Looking Glass
by Monkeys on Typewriters
Summary: Cinder had seen a lot growing up in the decade following the Siege of Mountain Glenn: Headmaster Ozpin's ousting, the steady decline of Grimm attacks, and bridges built between Faunus and humanity. All thanks to Huntress Salem and her colleagues. Cinder was just happy she'd get the chance to study under them. After all, it isn't every day you're accepted into Beacon.
1. Chapter 1

"Rumors of an Emerald assault in Lower Glenn _have_ been confirmed, though we don't yet know the number of casualties. However, we strongly urge you to stay at home, and let the poli-" The feed cut off abruptly, startling Damocles where he sat on the bed. He quickly glanced down, hands patting down the bed around him, rifling through crumpled sheets.

His actions stopped and shoulders tensed as a sigh from behind him reached his ears.

"Damocles, if you keep watching this it will just make it harder for you to focus on the mission."

The young man snorted. "I can focus just fine, Artemis. It's just... how? How can they believe it?" He asked.

He slowly turned his head to the side to find Artemis, standing in the middle of the room holding a remote. She shook her head, ponytail swaying behind her.

"Because she came to them at a dark hour. Gave them what they wanted: Hope. And she abused that. And now the only thing _we_ have is hope. So we're gathering resources as best we can." She set the remote down on the bed before gripping Damocles' shoulders.

"But to do that, we need our Captain. And he needs to be at his best. After all, the others are ready and in position. Now get your ass off of this bed or so help me, I will make you run the worst obstacle course at the Fort and gladly authorize Claymore to make it a living hell. Understood?" She said, glaring down at him.

Damocles chuckled. "You know the effect is ruined somewhat by your goggles, right, Red?" He asked, smiling. "Thanks. Now move. I need to do some leadering."

Artemis rolled her eyes as she moved to the side, smiling as she watched him stand up.

Damocles tapped at the wireless piece in his ear.

"Aegis, Highlander, gather up the lads. Mission is go. I repeat: Mission is go. And keep in mind what the doc said. She's watching Vale like a hawk, so we need to be inconspicuous."

"Copy that, sir."

"Gotcha, Bossman."

Damocles turned to Artemis, smirking.

"How's the new compression suit doing?" He asked. "Ready for a field test?"

"Bit snug, but I can at least appreciate the extra armor." Artemis said as she adjusted various parts along the body suit. "Here's hoping I won't need it. Or the other features."

"Well this should be a milk run, help us start building a rep and bring in supplies. We even have some hired help for it. You ready?" He asked, motioning toward the door.

"You're forgetting your fedora."

Damocles' eyes widened, before he turned to a hat on the bed. He scooped it up, putting it on his head and cocking it to one side.

"How do I look?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Artemis leaned forward, examining him.

"Very dashing," She said, smiling.

"Alright then," Damocles rolled his shoulders and buttoned up his trench coat, "Let's mosey."

"... Sir's not wearing the hat, is he? Because I seem to recall something about him wanting us to be... 'inconspicuous' I believe was the word."

"I swear by all you find sacred, Aegis!"

* * *

"My Beacon acceptance letter came today, the storm should hold until tomorrow, and I've just enough lien to pick up some extra Dust. Things are shaping up quite nicely." Cinder said as she strolled along the sidewalk, a giggle escaping her lips.

Her stride faltered as she heard a chuckle to her left. She glanced over, spotting a man leaning on the building wall, the bottom of his trench coat swaying in the breeze and hat covering his eyes. She shook her head, continuing down the sidewalk.

"Just ignore him. Go in, get your supplies, and get out. Nice and straightforward." Cinder slowed, spotting the entrance of _From Dust till Dawn._ She moved to the door, a bell ringing as she opened it, before going inside.

"Back again, Cinder? Thought I wouldn't be seeing you till the end of the month."

Cinder grinned.

"Well I had to celebrate the occasion, Greyson. Initiation shan't be easy. I'll need to bring my best."

Greyson smiled as he reached underneath the counter, bringing out a cylindrical vial. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning as he then shook off a few strands.

"I suppose. You know what'll best serve you, girl." He said, holding out the vial.

Cinder took it before she headed toward the back, passing shelves with various states of Dust to reach the fine-grain dispensers.

"Let us see. Lightning, Ice, no, no, ah- here we go: Fire Dust. Wonderous." She said, stopping in front of a depositing tube. She started humming as she inserted the top of the vial into the tube, the Dust pouring inside. A bell chime filled the store.

"Kinda late to have a store like this open, don'tcha think, old man? It's what… nine-thirty, ten? Who's even buying this late?" A voice said from the front of the store.

"Sir, can we please just rob him?"

"… You're no fun tonight, Aegis. You heard the man though. Fill 'em up, lads! And just keep your hands where I can see them, old man. Don't want this place becoming a circus, right?"

Cinder stood in front of the dispenser, her hands trembling. She heard multiple footsteps, glass breaking, and the sounds of Dust being dispensed into containers. She clutched at her vial, her brow knitting as she frowned.

"Hey Aeg. What do you want for dinner? I know it's a bit late, but there should be something open."

"Do focus, sir; we're on a mission."

"You shouldn't be so stiff on duty. Lighten up."

"She let you watch the news before the mission again, didn't she?"

"… 'Let' is a strong word. It was only thirty minutes, man. Stop being a buzzkill."

Cinder crouched down, moving slowly to the shelf opposite her, then along it to the aisle. She peered around the shelf's corner, spotting thugs along the store, including in the front. She heard a soft click, then stiffened as something pressed into the back of her neck.

"Freeze." She heard. "Put the vial down, get up, and turn around. Slowly."

Cinder fingered the vial in her hand and took a deep breath. She set it down on the ground in front of her, before corkscrewing up and around, trapping the thug's wrist in one hand while slamming her fist into his stomach. The thug let out a strangled rush of air as he fell across the young woman's shoulders.

"My apologies for this, Greyson." She muttered as she ran toward the front of the store, carrying the thug with her. Using him as a shield, she plowed through the storefront window.

Cinder landed on her feet, brushing glass off her pants and vest, readjusting them as she watched the thug roll along the ground. She paused before sighing as she looked down at her clothes.

"And now I'll have to spend valuable time repairing this. Grand." She said, hand running over a tear in her vest.

"What on Remnant?"

Cinder turned toward the store, watching as a young man leaned out of the broken window with a fedora perched on his head, his gaze moving to her through the sunglasses he wore.

"Damn." He muttered. "Guardian… or close enough."

A shrill whine started emanating from inside the store. The man's shoulders slumped at hearing it.

"Grand. The alarm. This I need. Thanks old man. Highlander!"

"Present." A nearby girl said, bouncing on her feet.

"Plan's changed. This place is about to become the big top attraction. Get _that_ guy outta here." The young man said, gesturing to the laid out thug. "And get the _rest_ of these mooks to the rendezvous point with the Dust. Then meet at extraction point Delta. Call in our ride and make sure Artemis gets on it."

Highlander saluted.

"You got it, Bossman." She said, hopping out of the store and rushing toward the thug on the ground, boots crunching over the glass. She picked him up before starting to make her way down a nearby alleyway. The girl slapped the side of her leather helmet, the straps swaying slightly as tinted goggles glanced back and forth.

"Alright you scallywags, get a move on! Spec Ops is going to be here any minute." Highlander said as several people streamed out of the store to follow her, all of them carrying several bags. "Spidey, we're flying outta here. So you better untangle yourself…" Her voice trailed off as the group made their way down the alleyway.

The boss shook his head, smiling as he tapped at his ear.

"Aegis, get out here. We've got an annoying little gnat to swat."

"Coming, _sir_."

He stepped out of the ruined storefront, followed by a suited teen in a mask.

"Do you really think the two of you is all that's required to hold me off?" Cinder asked, drawing her weapon as the two circled her.

The boss chuckled.

"That's right. But then, lass, we just need to stall. Though considering I don't see any arrows for that bow of yours, that shouldn't be too hard, eh, Aeg?" He said.

"Better possibility than usual, I'll admit, sir."

"Than I wonder what you will you say when I make you gorge on those words with that hat following as a chaser." Cinder glared, her gaze focused on his sunglasses.

Aegis smirked as he and his leader stopped on opposites sides of Cinder.

"I like her, sir."

"Yeah, yeah."

Cinder glanced to both her sides, rolling her shoulders. Both men readied themselves. Aegis brought his arms up, flexing his hands as his leader opened his trench coat and unsheathed a longsword. Cinder clenched and unclenched her free hand, taking deep breaths. She smirked as her right hand shot up from her side as glass from the ground followed her movement, forming an arrow that landed in her palm.

"Oh that is so awesom-" The boss ducked as the arrow flew past, skimming his hat. "Less awesome! Very much less awesome!"

Aegis charged as Cinder gripped her bow in the middle, yanking it apart into two swords, the bowstring winding itself into a holding place on one of the swords.

"Shall we dance, masquerade mask? I'll lead." Cinder stabbed forward with a sword.

Aegis shifted left as he continued forward, shoving her arm back into her as he slammed a palm into her ribs. Cinder let out a grunt as she backpedaled, bringing her arms around and slashing at him with both blades. Aegis bent backwards, letting them pass over him. He straightened up as his leg shot out, heel slamming into Cinder's knee before he rammed his elbow into her stomach, a rush of air escaping from her as it landed.

Cinder fell to the floor, immediately scrambling up to one knee as she took in big gulps of air. She quickly glanced up, bringing her blades forward.

"Sloppy form, partner." Aegis said, adjusting his tie.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Cinder glanced over to see her opponent's partner swinging up, his blade whistling through the air. She flicked her weapon up, using the flat of her blade to deflect the attack. The young man lunged forward, his knee leading. Cinder rolled to her left, getting to her feet. She crossed her arms before slashing forward with them both. The leader turned, intercepting the strike with his blade, locking it between Cinder's with a grunt.

"Could use a little help here." He said, pushing forward on his blade as Cinder shoved back.

Cinder glanced back, spotting Aegis coming up behind her. Her foot came up, striking him in the face and knocking him back. Her opponent shoved their blades down, before bringing his elbow up and slamming it into the bottom of her chin. With a cry, Cinder backpedaled, shaking her head.

"SURPRISE ATTACK!"

* * *

Damocles pulled Aegis toward the alleyway as he watched the lass hurl herself away from Highlander's strike, the hammer cracking the street with a loud echoing sound. He smirked as he saw the words 'There Can Be Only One' emblazoned on his subordinate's brown leather jacket.

He started moving down the alleyway with Aegis as he saw Highlander get up and head toward them.

"I thought I said to meet at the extraction point." Damocles said, starting to climb a ladder on the side of _From Dust Till Dawn_.

"Weeeeeellll. I'd gotten the boys out of here, but then it sounded like you were having fun playing. Then you said you needed help. So I helped."

"Hard to argue with that logic, sir." Aegis chuckled.

"It is. It really is. Let's get go- Dammit!" Damocles shifted back as an arrow flew through the space between him and the ladder. "Is she still trying to get us?"

"She's persistent."

"You said annoying wrong. Climb faster."

"It's gonna be like dodging Arty's shots. Awesome!" Highlander grinned.

Damocles' boots hit the rooftop and he took off running, his team at his heels.

"She still following us?" Damocles asked as he glanced behind them.

He tilted his head to the side as an arrow shot past and embedded itself into a nearby chimney.

"I can hazard a yes on that, sir."

"Astute as always, Aegis."

"Thank you, sir."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'm aware, sir."

"All of my hate."

Highlander chuckled.

"She reminds me of the doggies on the obstacle courses at the Fort." She said as her head bopped side to side.

Aegis and Damocles turned their heads to stare at her as they continued running, hopping over to the next rooftop.

"You do realize those aren't dogs, right Highla- no. No, now is not the time to start this up again." Damocles said as he shifted to the side, dodging another arrow. "Okay, what's the deal? It's like I have a target on my back."

"Or head." Aegis said, smirking.

"Okay look you-"

Damocles stopped as a Bullhead swooped down two rooftops ahead, before starting to hover. The side panel opened, revealing Artemis.

Damocles smiled as he tapped his communicator.

"Perfect timing as always, Artemis. I need a warning shot for our tag along. Right across her nose."

"Copy that."

A gunshot rang out. A scream followed.

The team stopped on the roof in front of the Bullhead, before turning to the scream.

Damocles' jaw dropped as he watched the lass cover her bloodied face as she moved to hide behind a chimney.

"Sorry." Artemis said.

"I said across her nose, not _up_ it."

"My aim slipped."

"... I think my hearing just died. Your aim _what_?"

"It. Slipped."

"We gotta go, Boss." Highlander said, tugging at Damocles' sleeve. "I'm starting to see Spec Ops arriving."

"Alright." Damocles said as Highlander got into the Bullhead. "One thing first."

He cupped one hand on the side of his mouth.

"My apologies for the face, lass. But I will say you put up a good fight. So take solace in the fact that this was the day you almost caug-"

Damocles ducked as an arrow shot over his head, watching as it dropped into the street below.

He felt around the top of his head.

"My hat... she's going down."

Aegis wrapped his arms around Damocles' waist, dragging him into the Bullhead.

"Let me _go_ , Aegis! This is bull-"

"Head. In. Now. We need to go." Aegis said as he turned his head to the pilot. "Roman! Take off now!"

"I'm _gonna_ go. Go kick her ass!" Damocles said, fighting in Aegis' grip.

"Acceptable losses, _sir_."

"You would say that."

* * *

Cinder watched the Bullhead's side panel close as the aircraft lifted and took off.

She sighed as the sound of sirens drew closer.

"Well. At least I got his hat. So I suppose things are shaping up… decently?" She said, holding her bloody nose. She winced as her hand brushed against the bullet's impact point.

"I just know that's already bruising up the rest of my face... and I forgot to take my Joules Pill today. Grand."

* * *

Ruby fidgeted in her seat, eyeing the plate of cookies on the table in front of her. The light above her swayed slightly, casting shadows across the plate. Her eyes narrowed.

"Miss Rose, if you would take one of the cookies, then this whole situation can be cleared up. You aren't even in any trouble." Ruby's gaze swayed to meet the man in the room. Captain Black raised an eyebrow.

"Nope! How do I know it isn't drugged with some kind of truth serum?" Black let out a sigh, rubbing his brow.

"For the last time: There. Is. No. Truth. Serum. You've been here for five minutes, and you don't even want sweets. I baked them myself! Gods above, kid, eat 'em. They're really good. My son loves them."

Ruby's brow furrowed. "I would never succumb to such... _heresy_." She glared at him as she jabbed a finger forward. "I will never eat oatmeal raisin."

"Calm down, the both of you." The two occupants of the room's eyes flashed to the woman standing in the doorway.

The woman stepped further into the room, dark eyes focused on Ruby. "Good evening, Miss Rose. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It is?" Ruby asked, before stuttering. "I- I mean, thank you ma'am." The woman chuckled.

"You know, you have the most beautiful eyes."

Ruby's cheeks reddened. "You think so? I mean, dad always said I was special, and that I had mom's eyes. But silver eyes are really really rare, y'know!"

The woman again chuckled. "Now, Miss Rose, you have a most impressive combat record at Signal." Ruby nodded rapidly. "After reviewing these records, and several other... noteworthy recommendations from some of my colleagues, I've decided there's something special about you. Something Beacon would definitely benefit from having."

"Wait, does this mean-" The older woman held up a hand, and Ruby quickly quieted, fidgeting even more in her chair.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy, Miss Rose."

"Thank you, Headmistress Salem! I won't let you down!" Salem smiled, looking into the young girl's eyes.

"I have no doubt in my mind about _that_ , child."

-x-

* * *

 **AN: Welcome to Looking Glass. We are the Discord of Lurkers, a writing community who got bored one day and started being productive. I'm KillJoy because I occasionally kill jokes, and I'm taking the lead on this one. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy.** _ **The DoL is not responsible for any damages incurred while reading this. All complaints will be sent to our HR department where it will be**_ _ **ignored**_ _**reviewed by a salty Byzantine historian. This chapter was beta'd by the DoL members Terra and Horribrah.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Mercury slumped against the airship's wall and ran a hand through his silver hair. He turned towards the dark skinned girl sitting next to him, watching her as she scanned the passengers.

"Nah, not her. Too focused."

He rolled his eyes, smacking his friend's shoulder. "Geez, Saph, can you stop thinking about picking pockets for five minutes?"

"Why would I?" she said, the corners of her mouth upturned slightly.

"Dammit, you always have to ruin the moment, don't you? Great view of Vale, an opportunity of a lifetime, and all you can think about is stealing somebody's lunch money." Mercury grimaced, before putting on a grin as red eyes glanced at him. "You'll never change, Saph."

She let out a small chuckle before scanning the crowd once more, her eyes finding a target.

"How about… that girl over there?" Sapphire pointed to a young woman with long white hair standing near a window opposite them. "She's got a lot of stuff with her. Sure would be a _shame_ if some of it got lost in transit, right Merc?"

The airship rocked slightly, and the girl's luggage wobbled, drawing their gaze to the holographic screen near the window.

"Last night, a robbery of one of Vale's biggest Dust shops led to an engagement that spanned several blocks and amounted to nearly three thousand lien in stolen merchandise," A voice projected from the screen. "The criminals, a new gang believed to be aided by master thief Roman Torchwick, are suspected to have escaped into the storms that are now engulfi-"

"Why do they always show the news? It's like no other television station exists in these floating deathtraps." Sapphire said, glancing at Mercury. He shrugged.

"-itnesses were brought in for questioning, and there are rumors of the White Fang opening investigations into the case. Police Captain Marcus Black, however, refused to comment. In other news, the terrorist organization known as 'The Emerald Legion'," Sapphire glared at the screen, "Is still believed to be at large in the territories surrounding Vale. If you have any information that can lead to the-"

The image on screen switched, showing the utilitarian banner of Beacon and a man in a short-sleeved trench coat standing in front of it. "Welcome, everyone." The man said. "I am Professor Hazel Rainart, and you young men and women, have decided to devote your lives answering the world's desperate call for protectors. Working through our rigorous selection process, you have all proven yourselves to be the best of the best. But that will not be enough. At Beacon, you must have a strong will and character, not just skill with a weapon. Be warned that this will not be easy. In half an hour there will be an announcement by the Headmistress in the auditorium. Do not be late. Welcome to Beacon." A red-cloaked girl let out a squeal as the crowd began to murmur.

"Real heartwarming greeting, eh Saph?" Mercury asked. He glanced to his side where the girl sat.

"Yeah. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

Mercury chuckled and looked out a nearby window at the metropolis below. "What do you think of the view? It ain't so bad."

His friend turned to the window, green hair bobbing with the motion. "Guess not. Hell of a drop though."

"Aaannnd you're still oblivious to how normal people act. Come on, I think I can almost see Glenn from here. Though I will admit, it's a bad day for sightseeing. Lousy storms."

"-can see Signal from here!" Mercury glanced toward the speaker, then allowed his gaze to wander, before it suddenly snapped back, narrowing. Sapphire followed his gaze and her face fell.

"Hey Saph, isn't that Xiao Long? I'll be right back."

"No, nuh-uh, nada, other words that mean 'no'."

Mercury turned his head toward Sapphire, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

Sapphire's red eyes glared into his grey ones. "You're just gonna walk right up to Yang Xiao Long."

"... And your point is?"

"Well you may start off just talking, maybe even some teasing, but then one of you will say somethin' to start a fight. This always seems to happen, and excuse me if I want this airship to get to Beacon in one piece."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Name one time things got out of hand."

"The sparring room. The shield generator was wrecked, parts of the floor were broken, and you two almost managed to destroy a wall."

"Hey now, that was just the shoddy construction. Doesn't count."

"The Dining Hall. Five tables destroyed, a lunch lady got decked, and _you_ nearly broke a cement column."

Mercury winced. "Things… escala-"

"The courtyard. Graduation. I was even there for that one." Sapphire raised an eyebrow, as her arms crossed over her olive tank top. "Need I go on?"

Mercury slumped back against the hull's interior as the ship began to land. "Just go back to planning how to con future Guardians."

Sapphire smirked.

The airship touched down, a small jolt jarring its passengers. The rear door opened and people pushed through and out onto the landing docks. Mercury and Sapphire followed the mob at its tail.

Sapphire peered over the crowd, frowning. "I lost my mark."

Mercury snorted.

Sapphire looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "So I need a new one. Maybe something… risky this time."

"Saph, whatever you're thinking, drop it."

"Hmm, where was that friend of yours again?" She asked, rubbing her chin.

"You're not gonna pickpocket Xiao Long."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why not."

"Seriously, this really isn't a good idea." Mercury looked at her as she smiled.

"Why not?" She asked, rubbing her hands together. "Xiao Long would never expect anybody to take her wallet. And you know how I looove a challenge."

Mercury's face sunk into his hands as the pair stepped off the airship, making their way around the crowd. "The only 'challenge' involved in that would be keeping the red-eyed banshee off you if you're caught. I don't need pops here in an official capacity any time soon."

"Daaaww. You doubt my skill?" Sapphire pouted.

"I doubt your sanity," her companion said, lifting his head to glare at her.

She broke into chuckles. "I think I'm offended."

"Good. Maybe then you'll start using that brain of yours for more than hare-brained heis-"

"Hey! Watch it!" A voice carried over the crowd. Sapphire turned toward the noise first, seeing a pale girl in a white skirt fuming at a dark-haired girl in front of a large statue in the center of the courtyard. Two suitcases were lying open on the ground, and vials of Dust had rolled out of each. Sapphire smirked. Mercury frowned.

"Sapphire, don't," He said, nudging the girl's shoulder.

"Hold my beer."

"You're not even drinking anyth-"

"Can't hear you, being awesome," Sapphire said as she walked towards the two squabbling girls.

"My apologies, miss, but that crowd was massive, and neither of us saw the other. We should simply pick up our Dust and head to the auditorium before we are late. Unless you would _rather_ we quarrel and allow time to ebb away?" The dark-haired girl in a brown vest said.

Sapphire grinned as the speaker stared across a mess of spilt Dust vials at her mark.

"That would be convenient for the one who barrelled into me, wouldn't it? Did nobody ever tell you to watch your step when you're handling dangerous materials? This isn't just some low quality Dust you buy at any store, you know. It is expensive, and I cannot afford to lose any." The white-haired girl in a white skirt said.

"Aww, that's a shame," Sapphire muttered. She walked up to her mark, who was trying to gather up her spilled luggage, and put on a wide smile. "Hey, do you need any help?"

"Who are you?" The white-haired girl asked, before shaking her head. "No, it doesn't matter. I don't need your help."

Sapphire sighed, allowing the smile to drop from her face slightly. "You may not want it, but that's a lot of vials for one person to keep track of, and we _do_ have to get to the auditorium in time."

"I think I can clear up this predicament on my own."

"Admirable. But you're also blocking off some of the walkway with your little spill here and people are bound to get antsy. And ansty people around scattered Dust vials isn't a good combo."

The white-haired girl glanced around at the surrounding crowd before slowly nodding. "I suppose it would be best to expedite the process, if only to ensure no accidents occur." Sapphire crouched to the ground next to the girl and began picking up the vials.

"This week has been simply _wonderful_ , hasn't it?" The black-haired girl hissed, amber eyes briefly squeezing shut. She bent down to pick up her own Dust and turned towards the white-haired girl. "Am I right to assume you and your new friend can manage your own side of things, miss?"

"My _name_ is Weiss Schwartz. And yes, we can resolve our own affairs, no thanks to you." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "We should all be thankful none of these vials leaked!"

Sapphire came up from behind Weiss and tapped her on the shoulder, handing her a vial. "Here you go, it's the last of it."

"Thank you." Weiss turned to the black-haired girl. "Do be more careful in the future. You don't want to get someone hurt, do you?"

With a huff, Weiss gathered her scattered luggage and stalked off. The black-haired girl followed with her own luggage, muttering to herself. Sapphire heard a low chuckle and turned towards the source.

"Did you really just help that snotty girl for no reason? I'm impressed." Mercury strolled over to Sapphire as she stood next to the statue.  
"You know me better than that, Merc." Sapphire held up her hand, revealing two Dust vials, "She kept these in a pouch on her back."

The young man groaned as he slapped a hand against his forehead, letting it hang over his eyes.

"You know, you were talking about wallets earlier. Neither of those look like wallets. Maybe you should go back to that plan before you go too far. Or, here's a novel idea, stop committing crimes at all. Or at least mentioning them out in the open where anybody can hear it."

"Where's your sense of adventure, Merc?"

"Hiding. From you. In a vain attempt at self-preservation." Mercury sighed as he let his hand fall to his side. "You need to watch yourself. They'll actually take you to task here. You wanted to get away from that anyway."

"The politics, not the practice," Sapphire said, tucking the vials into her side-pouch. "Let's get going Merc, before the rain starts pouring down."

* * *

Cinder followed after Weiss, her eyes wandering over the younger girl before narrowing.

"Excuse me!" Weiss stopped and turned around, her face scrunched into a frown.

"What do you want?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow as she stared down at the glowering girl.

"What I want is to prevent another incident. You are aware of the vials nearly falling from the pouch on your back, are you not?"

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed, her head whipping around to check her pouch. An open top greeted her, with several vials standing upright and sticking out of the pouch.

"I'm confident you wouldn't want the day marred by having to explain an explosion in the middle of a group of applican-"

"Oh this is ridiculous!"

Cinder blinked as she watched the white-haired girl re-sort, then close, her pouch before she started pacing back and forth on the stone walkway.

"I know I got a quality pouch. It never should've just opened like that! I'll need to check my entire route to make sure none of them dropped, wasting even more time-"

"Miss Schwartz if you would listen to me."

"-and that's not even taking into account the possibility of some uncouth ruffian finding a vial. Who knows what they could-"

"Weiss!"

Weiss stopped pacing as she snapped toward Cinder.

"What?!" She said, swinging her arms down. "And how do you know my name, anyway?"

"You made quite the point when informing me." Cinder said as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Right before you stormed away with your luggage. And as I was behind you I can confidently say that no vials have fallen as of yet, which is why I brought the situation to your attention. But by all means, continue on your tirade about 'uncouth ruffians', one of whom may become your future partner. It's quite riveting."

Weiss relaxed her posture, adjusting her black jacket and white skirt as a blush spread across her cheeks.

"... After _careful_ deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps we can start our interaction over from the beginning, Miss…?"

"Fall. Cinder Fall."

"Well met, Miss Fall. The pleasure is mine," Weiss looked Cinder up and down, "Though judging from the look of your clothes, perhaps _you_ should be saying that." Cinder raised an eyebrow as she stared at Weiss.

"Hey now, I was joking." Weiss's hands flew up as Cinder continued to stare at her with a steady gaze. Finally the young girl's shoulders slumped as she placed a hand on her face. "'Observational sarcasm' she said, 'They'll laugh' she assured me, oh why did Winter have to have such a weird sense of humor. She messed my sensibilities up, I swear."

Cinder shook her head, a smile spreading across her face.

"It's fine. I'm not partial to bad humor, but I believe I can make an exception here." Cinder walked up beside Weiss. "Do you happen to know where the auditorium is located, perchance?"

"Yes, I'm fairly sure it's this way." Weiss gestured to a pathway diverting away from the others and continued walking on with the raven-haired girl. "So Cinder, what kind of weapons did you bring?"

Cinder's smile stretched into a smirk. She reached behind her back with a hand, drawing forth a dark steel blade from her belt. "This is my weapon of choice. I've two of them I can use in tandem or I can combine them into a bow, for a more _delicate_ touch." With a quick twirl, Cinder put away her blade. "So, Weiss, might I enquire as to your weaponry?"

Weiss stared at Cinder for a moment. She then, with a twist of her wrist, unsheathed a thin fencing blade. "This is my Multi-Action Dust Rapier. It has three cartridges for different combinations of Dust, and is quick and balanced. Everything you'll ever need in a sword is in this blade."

Cinder stared at Weiss. Then at the rapier. Then back to Weiss. "A Multi-Action Dust Ejector! And it's built around a rapier." Cinder's eyes widened, looking at her compatriot. "I never thought I'd get to see one of these, actually. Not up close. The last I'd heard, a modestexample of this type of system can run in the range of thirty thousand lien. And that's just to build it yourself."

Weiss looked at Cinder, shaking her head. "It's not quite that expensive. And where did you get that marvel of engineering, anyways? I wouldn't expect the cost to be marginal."

Cinder glanced at Weiss. "I built it. I had to. Living like I do, you save where you can. And it's cheaper, not to mention easier in the long run, to make and maintain your weapon yourself. Granted, you do need to know higher level weapons engineering, but you just need a good teacher and some initiative to become skilled in that."

Weiss stopped walking. "You built that thing?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised and a smile spreading across her face. "That's impressive. Not a lot of people appreciate the art of weapon design anymore."

Cinder shrugged. "It wasn't too hard to come across the parts I needed for the bowstring or the locking mechanism, and the design is fairly simple. I built it for around a few thousand lien. I can even recreate it with my semblance."

Weiss' lips curved into a smirk. "Then it's decided."

Cinder's head snapped towards Weiss. "What's decided, exactly?"

"You're fairly skilled at engineering. You're economically savvy. You're presumably talented." Weiss smirked at Cinder, smoothing her white skirt. "You should be my partner."

A moment passed. "No."

Weiss glared at Cinder, hands on hips. "What, think you're too good for me?"

"There's no need to be hostile. But the fact is that even when you consider the we lack the knowledge of how partnerships are formed, I also find myself wondering at your survival skills. Specifically tracking."

"Wait, I am more than skilled enough for this school."

"Then tell me, where exactly is the auditorium? Because I haven't seen anyone else for quite some time." Cinder asked as she stopped to look at Weiss, leaning against her luggage. Blue eyes blinked as their owner stopped in her tracks to look at her surroundings. They found patio furniture, secluded away from the view of most of Beacon's courtyard.

"... Eh heh heh."

* * *

"Finally!" Cinder skipped a step, before turning back to Weiss, smirking. "What did you say again?"

"Cinder…"

"'I'm fairly sure it's this way,' you said. Would that be accurate?"

"Cinder, now is not the time to be playing the blame game." Weiss said, a blush rising onto pale cheeks. "We're almost late."

"Mayhap we should have followed the crowd instead." Cinder's smile grew wider at the sigh she heard.

"Shut. Up. I swear, you're acting like a five-year-old." Weiss crossed her arms. "Besides, we're here now, aren't we?"

The auditorium ceiling hung high over them, its arches casting shadows in the light of the inclement weather. Sculptures built into the columns glinted in the light, the wide doorway shining in the starting rainfall as the two girls entered the hall together, passing a boy with a mohawk leaning against the wall beside the doorway.

The room was filled with the sounds of soft conversations. Cinder glanced around, before leaning towards Weiss.

"There appears to be a sizable amount of applicants. Though it is disheartening how young the majority seem to be." She said with a small sigh.

"What's wrong with that?" Weiss asked as she glanced at her companion. "The age for entry may have been turned into a range instead of a single number, but it can still be beneficial to apply early."

"There's wisdom in patience, my dear Weiss, in waiting those few extra years to gain a better understanding of one's limits. It's also a tad easier gathering materials as a legal adult." Cinder shook her head before glancing over the crowd again, amber eyes eventually wandering to the stage at the front of the room. "Thankfully it would seem we aren't late. Though I am curious as to what information the Headmistress would want to relay to us. I'm positive it has to deal with whatever initiation trial we'll have to conquer."

"If so it's either going to be something that will give us the focus and drive to achieve our best, or it will merely be another generic encouragement speech."

"Oh?" Cinder turned to Weiss, eyebrow raised.

The white-haired girl shrugged.

"My sister has lamented about the latter in her line of work, and I have been to a few functions myself. Occasionally-"

Every light in the auditorium went out at that moment. All conversation stilled.

The crowd jumped as lamps along the rim of the stage flashed on revealing a pale, white-haired woman standing in front of several silhouettes. She stood at attention, her hands clasped behind her back and her imperial purple blazer was taut against her. She stared out into the crowd as murmurs broke out.

"It's the Headmistress. How'd she get there?"

"I don't know. I couldn't see a damn thing. What, your faunus eyes didn't help you?"

"Man, suddenly she was just _there_."

"Quiet."

All noise ceased as everyone turned to the headmistress. Vermilion eyes met each and every one of them.

"You have come to this school to become the guardians of this world, the protectors of your friends and neighbors. Some have come to this school to gain power, others for influence, and some have come to fulfill lifelong dreams. Your ambition has led you to the most prestigious Guardian academy on Remnant. But be warned, as your journey will not be easy. And in your Initiation tomorrow, you will not be coddled.

"You shall not be facing targets and automatons, but rather the Grimm and the dangers of the outlands. You will not be walked down the path, merely shown it. It is your will alone that will earn your place here. Not ours." Salem's gaze over the crowd narrowed. "You will not be afforded the protection of the civilian Joules Pill, but rather its weaker Guardian counterpart: the Second Pill. All the Grimm in the forest _will_ know of your existence." People began to shuffle in place.

"Yes, it will lower your emotional stability. You may find yourself... irritable, irrational, and otherwise unbalanced at first." Salem started pacing across the stage. "But it is necessary. Because it is the only way you will be able to hunt the Grimm during Initiation... or perhaps be hunted. I know it seems shocking." Salem said, as conversations spread amongst the crowd again. "However, the Grimm in the Jade Forest serve a purpose: though it is thinning, there is still a threat to _my_ people. And there is no better teacher than experience. But make no mistake."  
Salem stopped, her gaze sweeping over the crowd. Somebody to her left flinched, and another averted his gaze. A high pitched chuckle died as soon as it was heard.

Cinder shivered.

"This will strain your cunning, test your mettle, and hopefully, strengthen your resolve. If you pass, you will gain admission. If you fail... well, thankfully there are carrion birds about. Good day."

The stage lamps went out, briefly bathing the room in darkness before the overhead lights flickered on. The stage was empty.

Silence enveloped the auditorium.

"Eeeeeeee! That was so cool! Headmistress Salem was so fast, the way she moved, it was so eeeeee!" A short girl in a red hood squealed as she bounced around.

The rest of the crowd stirred. Weiss coughed. "Well, I guess that falls into the first category I talked to you about?"

Cinder stared at the stage and blinked. "It would appear so."

* * *

Ruby lay on her stomach, feet in the air and pen in hand. She stared at the paper in front of her sleeping bag through narrowed eyes, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. The noise from the collective assortment of trainees and recruits buzzed around the room, and Ruby let out a groan.

"You alright, sis?" Ruby turned to a girl sitting next to her. The girl flipped her blonde hair to her left shoulder, than began to brush it. "You seem a little… off."

"Yeah, I'm alright Yang." Ruby gave her sister a quick smile, before turning her focus back to her page. "I just don't know what to write to dad."

Yang gave Ruby a flat look. "Ruby. It's just dad. Just tell him how your day went."

She then took a quick look across the room. "Hang on. Is that Mercury?" The blonde asked, squinting her eyes.

"Yaaaang. Don't talk about your rivalries when I'm being serious." Ruby sighed. "Dad seemed really freaked out yesterday when I told him I was coming to Beacon. And I don't want him upset, you know. But I don't really know why he was being weird, so I can't help him, but I want to help him, and why does this all have to be so confusing?"

"Relax, Rubes." Yang messed up her sister's hair, smirking at the small squeak it elicited. "He's probably just nervous to see you come here already. And telling him that you got into Beacon Academy the day before the semester begins probably didn't do wonders for his stress levels."

"Well, he doesn't have to make such a big deal about it." Ruby pouted.

Yang laughed. "Look, he's our dad. It's his job to look after us, and he's probably just worried that you won't be social enough here or anything like that."

"I'm plenty social!"

"Ruby, you spent more time training last year than you did hanging out with friends."

"I don't see the problem with that."

"And the time you _did_ spend with them you guys just talked about building weapons and fighting."

"We're training to be the protectors of the world! Huntresses, Yang, like Mom."

"And that is why dad was worried."

"Hey," Ruby narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Yang sighed. "Ruby, it's been Guardians for nearly a decade."

"But they're pretty much the same thing! I don't get it, Yang. Why is the name so important?"

"Politics, semantics, lots of tiny things adding up." Yang grinned. "But you still need to know the difference, sis."

Ruby frowned and hit Yang with her pillow.

Yang laughed. "C'mon, Ruby. You're at the most prestigious combat academy on the continent, they're gonna expect you to know this stuff. Besides, with dad, you've got to cut him some slack when you spend most of your time training, or doing repairs, or preparing to become a Guardian, one way or the other. Most fathers don't like the thought of their kids fighting wars, and you know how he gets when it comes to family. Oh and, by the way, that _was_ Mercury. And his friend. Think I should go say hi?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"Wait, what?" Ruby's eyes widened and she gasped. "But I don't want you to get expelled for blowing up the ballroom!"

Yang stuck her tongue out at her.

"Hey sis?" Ruby coughed.

"Yeah, Rubes?"

"Didn't any of your friends make it in?"

Yang blinked. "Yeah, a few. Why?"

"Well…" Ruby poked her fingers together. "Don't you wanna, I dunno, spend some time with them?"

Yang shook her head with a smile. "Nope, I've gotta look out for you."

"Yay _…_ "

"C'mon, lighten up a little, sis." Yang tousled Ruby's hair as the younger girl grumbled. "We've got a long day tomorrow anyways, and I'm pretty sure my friends are gonna want to stay up all night anyways. I'd rather have a full night's sleep before Initiation, after all."

Ruby groaned. "Yaaang."

"Hey, for real. This isn't gonna be just another camping trip, it's a Guardian Initiation. You're gonna want to be well rested and prepared for this."

"I _am_ prepared though."

"You'll do fine, but you still need sleep."

Ruby muttered something under her breath. " _Fine."_ She yanked a blanket over herself and pouted.

Yang sighed. "I'll buy you ice cream after Initiation if you go to sleep now." She grinned at the muffled squeal from the mess of blankets reclining next to her. "Works every time."

* * *

"C'mon, Yang. We're gonna be late." Ruby sprinted to her locker, scrambling to enter the combination. "Yang! Hurry up!" Ruby managed a quick glance behind her. She paled at what she saw.

"Hey Mercury." Yang propped herself against a locker, hands behind her head. She faced Mercury and his friend. Her mouth stretched into a grin. "I'm glad I'm not the only one from Signal who got into the Academy."

Mercury smirked wide. "Well Xiao Long, I'm not the one who got tossed around the sparring arena like a tumbleweed every class." Mercury adjusted the straps on his boots, checking the magazines as his foot rested on a nearby bench.

"Hey now," Yang brought her arms down, crossing them over her chest, "You were the one freaking out when someone would step on your shoes."

"They're boots, greaves, and guns at the same time. They're better than what _half_ those kids were ever gonna wear."

"Shoes are shoes, no matter how fancy, Twinkletoes. How does that make it okay for you to freak out worse than Ruby when someone says she has to wear heels?" Yang chuckled.

Ruby frowned. "Hey!"

The two ignored her.

"Step off your pedestal there, Goldilocks, you're damn protective of those crappy friendship bracelets of yours."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Yang asked, a hand cupping her ear as she cocked her head. "I'm not sure I heard you properly."

"Yeah, those knockoff gauntlets of yours. What do you call 'em?" Mercury rubbed at his chin before he snapped his fingers. "Embolic Cholera! That was it. Still weird hearing a weapon with a name."

"Oh no." Ruby and Sapphire chorused, groaning.

Violet eyes bled into crimson, a grin exploding onto Yang's face as she surged forward.

"Yang!" A mass of red smashed into Yang's back, and she tripped forward with an grunt. Rose petals floated down and around the pair, littering the ground around them as Ruby's arms locked around the older girl's neck. Ruby's red cloak flapped around the pair, obscuring Yang's vision.

"Let go, Ruby! I'm only gonna beat him a little!"

"We just got here! We haven't even gone to class yet!"

Sapphire grabbed the grinning Mercury and dragged him away from the quarreling sisters. "Every time, Mercury, every damn time."

He shrugged, before wincing as her hand tightened around his wrist. Sapphire dragged him towards the doorway, and he looked Yang in the eye. "Next time," he mouthed with a wink, before disappearing into the hallway.

Yang started bucking even harder, Ruby holding on tighter to keep the girl down. A white-haired girl in a black coat and a dark-haired girl in a brown vest looked towards the loud commotion. A sigh erupted from the white-haired one. "Why does it seem like there is an incident a day so far?" She asked, rubbing her temple.

"Don't worry, this is just about nor-YANG!" Ruby's feet briefly left the floor, before falling just as fast. "Yang has a bad rivalry with a guy named Mercury. They tied for top of their class, so now they kinda break rooms apart whenever they see each other. Yang! Calm down! I _will_ call Dad!" Yang took a deep breath and, muttering under her breath, began to relax.

"Naturally." the white haired girl shook her head. "Sorry, I'm being rude. I'm Weiss, and this is Cinder." Cinder's amber eyes glanced towards the energetic duo, before shrugging as if holding a bucking and growling girl back was normal. "Would you, perhaps, know where Initiation will be taking place?"

Cinder smiled wide. "What's the matter, Weiss? Are you lost again?" Weiss's face turned red, her eyes narrowing. Cinder turned her head to the sisters. "She got us dreadfully lost yesterday searching for the auditorium. We had to walk around the entire campus, and we were almost-"

"They get the point, Cinder." Weiss groaned. "Let's not bicker and argue about how _you_ got us lost."

"Exactl- hang on a moment. Me." Cinder turned to stare at Weiss, eyes narrowing. "I got us lost? I had noth-"

"I am relieved you're taking full responsibility. It bodes well for our future as partners," Weiss said, smiling.

"Oh pronoun troubles," Ruby sniffled, eyes wide. "How you haunt me."

"Yeah," Yang chuckled as she removed herself from Ruby's grip. "Good times."

Weiss turned back towards the sisters. "So, would either of you girls know where it is, or not?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Wow. No need to be so prickly, Princess." Weiss bristled. "We don't know, but they should tell us over the announcements any moment now. So just chill out a bit, alright?" Weiss marched over to a nearby locker, before withdrawing a rapier and several vials of Dust. Cinder stepped next to her, withdrawing a bow and some Dust from her own locker.

"Attention all prospective students." The students in the locker room all straightened as a deep voice crackled on the loudspeaker. "Please report to the Beacon Cliffs in the next fifteen minutes for your Initiation. May strength and skill guide you forward. Should they falter, persevere with unconquerable spirit."

"Hey, how about we ask for directions?" Ruby flinched as Cinder and Weiss both snapped their gazes to her. "Just a, uh, suggestion."

Yang laughed as she reached over and ruffled Ruby's hair.

* * *

Mercury rubbed his shoulder, grimacing. "Geez, Saph,why do you hit so hard?" His eyes narrowed as he let out a hiss. "It's like you're trying to kill me." He stepped up to a cobblestone path leading away from Beacon's campus.

Sapphire's eyes glanced back at his. "Well, I'm not actively trying to kill you." Her mouth quirked upward. "Although, it would be quite a tragic accident. I might even cry." She walked alongside him, wiping at her eyes as she pouted.

"You're the one who went the wrong way so we could drop by the vending machines. And then you hit me for suggesting you should've just eaten in the dining hall? Truly, I feel the love."

"Hah! You wish."

"No, I really don't." Mercury pulled out a container from his pocket, popped it open, and poured a single red capsule into the palm of his other hand. Sapphire whistled.

"Did the captain's son forget to take his Second Pill?"

"Turns out even police kids can forget things. Who would've thought?"

Sapphire held out her flask, then sighed as she watched Mercury eye it.

"It's just water, Merc."

He snatched it out of her hand. "Well, forgive me for being careful." He popped the pill into his mouth and downed a shot of water. He threw the flask back to Sapphire.

"You're forgiven, ya asshole."

"Aww, you do care."

As they walked, a ledge became visible. Just beyond it was a forest, sprawling across the horizon. The mountains of Vale were in the distance, breaking the view of the horizon and beyond. The greenery in the foreground spanned miles of land, broken up only by ancient ruins and a massive ravine. Standing on the ledge near the edge was Professor Hazel and Headmistress Salem.

"Well that's a sight for sore eyes." Mercury cast a glance through narrow eyes at his friend. "Especially after looking at your mug all day." Sapphire smacked him on the shoulder again. "Right in the bruises. Again." Mercury turned to Sapphire, lip quivering. "Why do you hate me?"

Sapphire snorted. "Because you suck." Looking around, she saw the rest of the students milling about. Her eyes wandered over them before briefly glancing down. She paused. "Hey Mercury. Why are there plates on the ground?"

"Initiates." Professor Hazel marched to the edge of the cliff, before turning to the people. "Line up. Single file, one apiece on a plate."

"He's the guy from the airship video, right?" Sapphire whispered, nudging Mercury's side as they moved into line.

"Shut up, Saph."

"Today, you will be testing your fortitude in the Jade Forest to see if you are truly prepared to take on Beacon Academy." The man's hazel eyes panned across the line of students. A few flinched. "Some of you will not survive. This is your final warning."

"Hazel, please do not frighten the initiates. After all, with the supply of Second Pills they were given last night, the Grimm will actually be able to detect their fear."

"Of course, Headmistress." Hazel said, nodding. "I'll leave them to you."

"Well, if that isn't ominous." Mercury muttered, watching as the Headmistress marched up and down the line of students as Hazel stepped off to the side.

"You are here to do one thing." Salem said, stopping in front of Weiss. "Survive. The Grimm care not who you are, nor what your creed is. You all bleed red."

Weiss flinched as Salem moved on.

"But beware. The new pill will need time to take effect. Which is why you'll be in these woods for three days."

Noise erupted from the students as they all clamored to be heard.

Salem sighed, clasping her hands in front of her.

A loud crash, along with a tremor running through the ground, quieted the students as they looked around to find Professor Rainart knee deep in a small crater. He pulled himself up, shaking the dust off of his fist and brushing the dirt from his black pants.

"If you're quite done." Salem said, separating her hands. "You are not the first group to protest, nor will you be the last. However, it has proven effective. This will give us comprehensive data on who works well with whom, allowing the professors to make effective pairings for your time at Beacon, as well as teaching you valuable life skills.

"It will also give the pill time to slowly take effect, letting you naturally deal with the lowered inhibitions and letting the Grimm slowly find you, so you are not overwhelmed." Salem sighed. "However, as Hazel said, there are still some who will not make it. This is your last chance to leave."

Salem briefly glanced before smirking.

"No takers? Excellent. Then know that after three days, a flare - a guiding light - will go off at an unspecified location. The moment it does, those remaining will be considered students of Beacon. Make your way to that light. And worry not: at that point, we shall do everything to ensure your survival. Before that, however, you are on your own. Any questions?"

Mercury raised his hand.

"Yeah, I got one. How are we getting down there?" he asked.

"Oh you moron." Sapphire said, rubbing at her temple.

"It's a legit question!"

"Indeed it is, Mister Black." Salem said, glancing over at him. "Unfortunately, we do not have enough time to answer it as the exercise is beginning now."

"Wait, what?" Mercury asked before the launch pads underneath all the students activated at once, propelling them into the forest below.

"I think I look forward to this moment the _most_ each year, Hazel." Salem said, smiling as she watched the students.

Hazel chuckled.

"It is funny seeing which ones just sorta flail about. Winchester probably can't appreciate it, though, considering how sentimental his encouragement got. But they've got to strike out on their own at some point. Ah well. A drink, Mistress?"

Salem sighed.

"Just some ginger ale for me, Hazel. And some of those cookies Captain Black made if there are still some left. No use letting them go to waste."

* * *

"You've been here several times, Torchwick. How can you still have a hard time spotting it?"

"Well, forgive me if one ruin looks similar to another, Gem-head. I didn't get the club compass." Roman glanced back, a scowl on his face. "And where's the fearless leader anyway, Red? He's at least entertaining."

"He's learning a valuable lesson in being prepared." Artemis crossed her arms. "As well as how deep the pockets on Highlander's cargo pants actually are."

"Just kill me no-"

"These will be cleansed with fire! Fire and… MORE fire!"

Roman grimaced. "That's not something you want to learn with vomit."

Artemis smirked. "The first target he was going for was your bowler hat." She sighed. "He couldn't hold it."

One of Roman's hands left the flight controls to grip his hat.

"Doesn't Pockets-of-Chum have a helmet he could have used?"

"Does yours have an expensive communication device in it?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well we all have to make sacrifices." Roman said, batting his eyelashes.

Artemis giggled. "The day you make a sacrifice that isn't lien or bullets is the day I'm worshipped as an icon."

"So it seems that camo doesn't go with vomit. This is, in fact, relevant." Aegis said as he came up next to Artemis. "And I thought you should know he seemed nervous on the job today. He was quite talkative and well, he's puking now."

"Right. That decides it." Artemis rubbed at her temple. "By the way, Torchwick, you're about to pass it."

Roman's head jerked about, eyes scanning the craggy mountainsides. "Son of a bi-"

"Forward, just pass the chasm." Aegis said pointing over Roman's shoulder.

"Right, right, then it's just between the spires inside the circle." Roman grumbled, pushing the throttle forward.

The Bullhead flew over a chasm, keeping low to the ground as it flew through two spires before slowly touching down on a landing pad in the middle of deep crater, surrounded by broken down equipment. A large wall ran around the edges of the hole.

The side panel slid open, Damocles jumping down. He collapsed to the ground briefly, panting, before pulling himself to his feet.

"Well, that was an adventure." He said, starting to walk down the field.

"Where are you going, Bossman?"

Damocles turned back, seeing Highlander get out of the Bullhead, pant's pockets bulging.

"That is a great question, Highlander." Artemis said as she, Aegis, and Roman joined Highlander.

"Uhhhh… report! I have to report in." Damocles said, pointing to a large, flat-roofed building at the center of the complex.

Artemis smiled.

Damocles shivered.

"You have a point." Artemis shrugged. "But I heard from a certain someone you were quite chatty during the mission. Now what did I say would happen if you weren't completely focused?"

Damocles' eyes widened behind his shades.

"Traitor!" His finger pointed at Aegis. "This is mutiny!"

Aegis grinned as he adjusted his vest. "Sorry, sir. Your vomit almost hit my clothes. Inexcusable."

"Artemis, seriously, the mission went perfectly. You're punishing me just for the sake of it." Damocles groaned, turning back to the pony-tailed young woman.

"Highlander." Artemis smirked. "Get Claymore. I'll be reporting in while Damocles runs a few courses and he needs some… encouragement."

"YAY!" Highlander shouted, taking off down the field.

"And Aegis." Artemis said. "Make sure he gets to the field for training."

She then started walking off, following Highlander.

"Aaaaaaaand she just ignores me. Here I was, thinking I was the captain. So. Any chance we could not follow that plan, Aeg?" Damocles asked, sighing. "Cause you know, no one _has_ to know you got kicked in the face."

Aegis patted Damocles on the shoulder, steering him towards a lane surrounded in barbed wire. Damocles stared up at a fifty foot climbing wall.

"Highlander saw it happen, sir. That ship has sailed." Aegis said.

"Of course. How'd she get the drop on you anyway?"

Aegis tugged at his collar, shifting his body as he glanced around. "Well sir, I believed she wouldn't give up the advantage of her leverage against you for an opportunistic strike. I was wrong."

"Heh. Well anything that doesn't kill you is a good lesson for next time." Damocles said, running a hand through his hair, a frown crossing his face.

"Quite."

"Well then, Aeg, I better start warmin-"

"So what about my payment? I'm not a taxi, and Bullhead fuel isn't exactly cheap. Are you just going to forget about me?"

Damocles and Aegis turned back to see Roman tapping his cane on the ground, scowling at them.

"Don't flatter yourself, buddy. I try to forget about you every time I see your ugly mug." Damocles said.

Roman chuckled.

"See." He said, taking out a cigar and lighting it. "Far more entertaining." The red-haired criminal took a puff on hiscigar, letting out the smoke with a sigh. "And here I thought I was just picking up the kids from school."

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Killjoy: And here you have it! As you can see, the Discord of Lurkers are now the Monkeys on Typewriters, because why not. The next few chapters are going to be longer than these, but we'll try to get them out to you as soon as we can. Initiation is coming folks, and boy is it gonna be a doozy. This chapter was beta'd by Terra, Horribrah, Faust, Saltykov, and Monkey #2.**

 **Terra: Man, initial meetups** _ **suck**_ **.**

 **Monkey #2: Editing this chapter felt like an eternity passing by.**

 **Saltykov: I only switched a few commas around and made some general suggestions, but since I did that much, I'm technically a beta.**

 **Killjoy: He also commented sarcastic comments where necessary.**

 **Saltykov: It's a holdover from when we co-oped Dark Souls and I needed a coping mechanism for Killjoy's many stupid deaths.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Ruby flew through the humid air with a smile on her face, her cloak flapping in the wind as it trailed behind her. She soared until she could almost see over the mountains at the far side of the forest. Then her ascension slowed as she entered free fall.

Smile still wide on her face, Ruby unholstered a red contraption. Depressing a switch, the bulky rifle expanded. She quickly moved it in front of her, firing high caliber bullets to stall her descent. Her falling slowed, but the ground still rushed towards her. Ruby brushed a strand of hair out of her face before pulling a trigger.

The rifle's stock expanded into a long shaft, the scope and magazine still jutting out at the center of the staff. The bulky front of the gun unfurled, the piece below the barrel unhinging until it was perpendicular with the barrel. From under that, a blade curled out, blade jutting towards the young girl as the scythe finally took shape. The weapon trailed behind her, the blade pointing away from her back.

Ruby winced as she burst through the treetops, the highest branches whipping across her face. She lashed out with her scythe, the blade hooking around a thick tree limb. Her sudden anchor yanked her backwards as she sailed past, flipping her around the branch quickly. She flipped around it once, then twice, before her scythe lost traction and she began to fall towards the ground.

Her scythe lashed into the side of another tree, cutting deep into the trunk. Her momentum carried her straight down, the scythe slicing straight through the wood of the tree. She braced herself as she came to the ground, bending her knees to absorb the landing. She wrenched her scythe from the split wood. She took a glance around her surroundings, seeing several crushed bushes and the tree she pulverized in her immediate area.

"Wooooohooooooo!"

As the loud holler echoed above the canopy, Ruby rolled her eyes. The shout quickly veered off to her right, away from the cliff.

"Yang. Nobody else would yell that loud." Ruby shook her head with a smile. "Better go find her before she runs into Mercury."

Ruby skipped towards Yang's shouts, one hand gripping her scythe tight. She hopped over a short bush and entered a clearing. She stopped by a boulder with a deep set of claw marks carved into the rock face. She closed her eyes tight, before reopening them with a deep breath. Ruby took a large step away, before turning fully and stepping out of the clearing, fingers coiled around her polearm in an iron grip.

Ruby trekked through the homogenous locale of the forest, her weapon at the ready as she navigated through bushes and untrodden ground. Silver eyes constantly glanced around as the only sounds that reached her were the splashes from her boots hitting puddles of water left by the rain. Ruby spotted a change in the trees and bushes of the forest: a tall form, standing high. Its fur was black, and white armor covered its joints, head and chest.

"Beowolf." She muttered.

It stood obscured by foliage, but its dark palette stood out among the vibrant forest colors. Ruby brought her scythe to bear, the barrel of its internal rifle pointed towards the demonic creature. She squeezed the trigger.

The report sounded across the forest as the shot pushed Ruby back, her feet digging furrows in the ground. The Beowolf snapped to the side, a hole in its head. It collapsed to the ground, emitting a dark smoke before it began to disintegrate. Ruby took a quick breath and gazed at her work, before ejecting the fired bullet casing and chambering a new round into the barrel. A branch cracked loudly to her side.

Ruby snapped to her left, weapon at the ready, only to see Cinder cut her way through a bush, swords at the ready. Leaves stuck to her vest and hair with her face drawn into a grimace, before she blinked at the sight of Ruby. Amber eyes moved to the dead Beowolf.

"I heard the gunshot." Cinder's face relaxed, her swords tilting down. "Are you alright?"

Ruby smiled. "Of course I am! It's just one Beowolf. I could take, like, fifty of those things."

"Perhaps." The older girl said with a smile as she sheathed her swords. "But I think in an area that promises to be as dangerous as here, two pairs of eyes are better than one. If you're willing, I propose a coalition, Miss…?" She offered her hand.

Ruby nodded rapidly as she shook Cinder's hand.

"Ruby Rose. You're Cinder, right? I'm fine with that. That makes us friends, right?" Ruby cocked her head to the side, silver eyes looking up to meet amber ones.

Cinder paused before she started chuckling as she nodded. "That is one way of looking at it, yes."

"Cool. I mean, I knew that. It's just my uncle always tells me to verify stuff."

"He sounds well informed. Is he a Guardian?"

Ruby smiled. "Yeah."

"Well then," Cinder glanced around at the forest. "Any ideas?"

"Welllll... back on Patch, my family used to go camping a lot. We can find a good spot, make a hooded fire so the Grimm won't spot it, and make plans for our time here. Maybe we'll find some more people on the way, too."

"More tips from your uncle?" Cinder asked as she crossed her arms, a grin on her lips.

Ruby's smile faltered. "Ye-yeah. Well, him and my father."

Cinder nodded. "Alright then, where exactly should we build a campsite?"

Ruby looked to the side, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. Cinder stifled a laugh. "We'll need to have the high ground, considering that there will be Grimm soon. We also need to have some shelter. Being close to water is good, too. So a hill near a stream would be best."

Cinder blinked. "Well, I did see a few hills on the other side of the forest when I was launched." Cinder pulled out her swords, twisting them into her bow. "We should get moving. They're a fair distance from here and we shouldn't waste any daylight."

"Okay!" Ruby grabbed Cinder's arm, dragging her away away from the cliffs. Cinder rolled her eyes. "While we're walking, we're gonna need to keep an eye out for food and…" The two walked further into the wilderness. The dead Beowolf's body continued to decay where they left it, the disintegration working its way through the beast. It's dead, green eye glinted in the light streaming down from the canopy, before the head of the wolf turned to dust, leaving behind a small, black object.

* * *

A boot stepped on a twig, cracking the wood against the mud of the forest floor as the boot sank into the ground. The mud emitted a low squish as Mercury pulled his foot free, flecks of brown splattered all the way up the boot. Brass bullet casings glinted from their place across his shin, their belts tucked into a barrel running down the back of his leg. He shoved a branch aside as he tread through the forest, the sun high in the sky.

"I really should've brought something to eat. Probably gonna be stuck gnawing on roots by the end of this," he said, passing through the underbrush as he stepped into a devastated clearing.

The trees in the clearing were dead and splintered while skeletons of bushes lay flattened to the ground, nothing more than rotting sticks and broken roots. He tapped one of the trunks with his foot. His lip curled as the bark gave way and insects scurried out of the dead plant. He looked around the tree graveyard before spotting blonde hair and a brown jacket. Violet eyes were looking straight at him.

"Great, gonna have to throw this one back. Too much Mercury in it." Yang said, arms crossed.

Mercury snorted, tapping at his chest. "That hurts, Blondie. Right here. Maybe I should pay you back. After all, our fun got interrupted earlier."

"Bite me, Happy Feet."

"I'd rather the Grimm do that. Let _them_ chip their teeth, Firecracker."

The two shared a chuckle.

"Sooooo, kind of a long shot, but you haven't seen a five-foot tall red hood wandering around, have you?" Yang asked.

"Sorry, haven't seen your sister. I'm gonna assume you haven't run into Sapphire?"

"Looks like we're both missing our 'plus one' to this shindig, huh?"

"Why is it always party or dance analogies when I'm around you?"

"Learn a proper fighting style, then we'll talk."

"Considering how many times you've flat-out _let_ me hit you, that's hilarious." Mercury let out a low sigh. "So, you wanna team up to go and find them?." The silver haired boy shrugged and gave Yang a sidelong glance. "I'm fine with whatever really."

Yang grinned. "What, nervous about being in the woods alone, cityboy?"

Mercury scowled and opened his mouth, before being cut off by a loud crack at the edge of the forest. The sound of trees splitting and cracking resounded loudly from the underbrush beyond the clearing.

The pair snapped around, both looking for the source of the noise. Mercury's leg came up as his body tilted sideways, bending at the knee and coiling his raised leg like a spring.

Yang's bright yellow bracelets twisted and lengthened, expanding across the outside of her forearm and wrist. A barrel poked out from a gap between the gauntlet and the back of her hand as a belt of Dust shells twisted around the circumference of the weapon.

A massive black bear lumbered out of the shadows, its shoulders standing higher than the dead trees. A bone mask covered its face, red etchings in the plate twisting around until the end finally reached the creature's red eyes. Bone plating covered its chest and limbs, spikes sticking out of the creature's shoulders.

"AUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!" The creature's roar ripped across the clearing, the two initiates wincing. The pair squared off with the creature, standing side to side.

"That's an Ursa Major." Mercury eyed the Grimm as it towered above them from across the clearing. His hands shook. He clenched his fists tight, his gloves creaking.

"Well now. Looks like we've got a pretty big trial run, eh Merc?" Yang glanced at her rival, offering a wink. Mercury growled. The girl cocked her gauntlets, a shell flying out. "Relax, it's only one Grimm. We can take it, right?"

Mercury kept staring at the treeline, muscles tensed. A low growl permeated from the underbrush. One small Ursa stepped out of the shadows, followed by another. Soon, a half dozen Ursa minors had gathered in a semi-circle around the duo.

"This. This is why you shouldn't speak, Xiao Long."

Yang's eyes flickered between the towering beast and its entourage. "I take biggie, you take the small fry. When I say switch, we switch, alright?"

He frowned. "We should probably come up with an actual plan-" Yang launched herself at the Ursa Major, fist cocked back. She smashed her fist into the chest plate, shoving it back and off balance. She pressed forward. The beast swiped at the blonde, who ducked underneath the attack. Yang then jumped onto its paw, before leaping from the appendage to deliver a haymaker to the bear's snout. The smaller Ursai flocked toward the brawl. Mercury sighed. "Dammit. Why is everybody around me a reckless idiot?"

Mercury bounded towards the bears. One of the Ursai twisted until it faced the teen, arms tensed at its sides. Mercury retained his speed and the Ursa's arm reared back. The grey-haired teen crouched before leaping high into the air above the creatures. His leg reared next to his head and he flipped slowly as he fell towards the ground. His leg struck the forest floor near the lead Ursa in an axe kick.

The impact from the hit splashed mud into the air, and eyes of the Ursai. They halted their advance towards the Ursa Major and Yang, growling as they turned toward Mercury, spreading out around him, shaking the mud out of their eyes. He straightened, tensing his core and bending his legs slightly. "Thanks!" A cry from the brawler reached the kickboxer. He rolled his eyes.

Mercury glanced at the Ursai surrounding him, tensing his legs. The lead demon bounded forward, slashing a heavy paw towards his face. Mercury quickly spun sideways away from the hit, bringing his leg up into a back kick as he went. A loud crack sounded, smoke fuming from the gun barrels.

The Ursa stumbled.

Mercury brought his leg up again, before another Ursa lunged at him. He planted his foot on the beast's face and hopped over it. Seeing an Ursa rearing back in his path, Mercury balled up, legs forward as the Grimm launched a paw forward. The Ursa smashed through his guard, causing him to fly back several feet, landing on his back with a grunt.

"I thought these things fought on their own." Mercury muttered, lifting his head.

He saw the creatures quickly bounding toward him. Eyes widening, the kickboxer spun on his back, leg flashing up. A loud bang emitted from his boot as another bullet fired.

The bullet tore through an Ursa's jaw, the monster quickly falling back, its head ripped apart by the shot. Mercury used the recoil to spin like a top, twisting his upper body around and slamming a hand down to prop himself up. He watched as his hand sank into the muddy ground.

"... Really? Fine." Mercury quickly stood up, dislodging his arm from the mud, and turned to the advancing Grimm. He launched a roundhouse kick to the lead Ursa, hitting it in the face, before slamming a sidekick to its stomach, loosing a round into it. The beast flew into another of its companions, the two monsters flopping onto the ground and rolling over each other.

"Switch!"

Yang backflipped off of the Ursa Major, uppercutting it with her foot as she flew.

"That's my move, Xiao Long!" The blonde flashed a smirk in Mercury's direction. A deep crack scarred the behemoth's mask. Dropping it to the ground, she ducked around two Ursai before clotheslining a third. Mercury sprinted to the Ursa Major with a hardened look on his face.

The Ursa Major struck first, its claws rending the ground and flinging mud into the air. Mercury spun around the slash, throwing a back kick to the beast's leg. The armor cracked at the impact, the monster letting out a snarl. Mercury pushed off the leg, rolling away.

He then jumped up, kicking out a leg then using the recoil from the shot to twist and kick out the other leg, the bullets smashing into the Ursa's face. The bear's head snapped back, before it whipped its head to look at the perpetrator and moved its snout closer to him. Mercury smiled.

" _AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Mercury wiped a bit of spittle from his cheek as he grimaced. "What, did you have a half eaten carcass for breakfast? Your breath smells like sewage." The Ursa smashed its fist at Mercury, slamming into the ground as the teen moved to the side. He then smashed his foot into the beast's wrist. The Ursa's paw went limp, letting out another roar.

"Switch!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Mercury watched Yang kick off of one of the Ursa, her hair leaving the air around her ablaze. When she reached the apex of her jump, Yang turned her attention toward the Ursa Major, throwing a punch towards it. A shotgun slug flew from her gauntlet, striking the monster in the shoulder. Three more hits left it reeling.

Mercury turned his attention back to the small fry in the fight, seeing three left. He put his foot through the first one's chest in a single motion, before quickly tearing his appendage free. The final two Ursai charged him, spittle flying from their mouths. The young man jumped between them, slamming both feet into one's head and smashing his fist into the other. He twisted and landed on his toes, hand steady on the ground, a smirk stretched across his face. The two Ursai fell just in front of him. One stayed down. The other writhed a bit before being killed with an axe kick. Mercury turned his attention to Yang's brawl.

The Ursa's fur was singed at the tips and loud pants escaped its mouth with every movement. Yang's fists snapped left and right faster than her hair whipped with the punches. She launched punches one after another: a haymaker smashing into the beast's knee, a straight against its ankles, an uppercut to the chest. Mercury quirked an eyebrow at the twisted snarl on Yang's face. He then saw several strands of long, blonde hair caught in the flailing claws of the Ursa.

"You. Evil. Ugly. Massive. Monster!" Every word out of Yang's mouth was accented by a punch. With a final hit, the Ursa stumbled onto its back under the pressure of shotgun-laced punches. Yang pounced quickly, smashing her fists into the creature's head, neck, and shoulders. Chips of bone flew from the Ursa's shoulders as the blonde kept up her assault.

Mercury glanced over its form before his gaze snapped to its boney chest, smiling as he saw the deep fissures carving their way into the protective plating. He saw Yang's feet planted within one of the crevices in the bear's armor and his smile morphed into a smirk.

Mercury jogged up to the beast with a slow gait, shoulders relaxed. Yang's punches had begun to dent the Ursa's boney faceplate into its head, the Ursa growling.

"Why. Won't. You. Just. _Die_!"

"Hey Xiao Long! Try and beat this one." Mercury's smirk stretched farther across his face as Yang glanced at him. "You may want to get off his chest for this." Lilac eyes widened, smacking the beast's head one last time before jumping off.

Mercury tensed his legs, before hopping small. Hitting the ground after his first jump, his legs coiled, and - with the bang of a gunshot - the kickboxer uncoiled, propelling himself high into the air. He revolved slowly, side over side, before he began to descend. Smile still wide on his face, Mercury bent his right leg falling towards the Ursa. On his last rotation, he snapped his leg out.

His boot smashed into one of the many dents in the Ursa's chest, and the Ursa let out a roar. The foot didn't stop at the plating, continuing its path until it was planted firmly inside of the Ursa's chest. The kickboxer activated the trigger mechanism in the boot. A muted sound emitted from the beast's chest, and its roaring ended. The Ursa's eyes widened before its head finally fell back.

Black smoke poured out of the gaping wounds in the Ursa Major's legs, shoulders, and chest, and more was rising from the monster's open mouth. Mercury grimaced as he yanked his foot out of the Ursa's chest cavity, shaking his foot upon exit. He looked to the blonde girl scowling at him from the ground. Yang's crossed her arms as Mercury twisted his grimace into a smirk, winking at the girl on the ground.

"You looked like you were having some trouble."

"I had that handled."

Mercury raised an eyebrow as he dropped down from the disintegrating Ursa. "Is that why you were standing on his chest punching him for thirty seconds? Because that really didn't look like 'you had it handled'."

Yang's scowl disappeared, replaced with a glint in her eye. "Well, I didn't have as much trouble as you did." She examined her fingernails. "In fact, you were really just pounding away at his leg for your entire turn. Reminded me of a three-year-old fighting a grown up."

Mercury shrugged, stepping towards her. "Well I was the one who actually killed the damn beast." He flicked some mud out of her hair. "All that you really did was knock him over and give yourself a trim."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You do know you're kinda an asshole, right?"

Mercury smirked. "It's part of the charm."

The pair walked in silence towards the treeline. Yang cast a sidelong glance at her companion. "Hey Mercury?'

"Yeah?"

"Wipe that smirk off of your face, before I do it for you."

* * *

Ruby hiked up the slope. The forest was beginning to thin out as they approached a clearing, and beyond that was a hill barely visible above the narrowing treeline. Ruby glanced back and saw Cinder wrestling a thorny branch out of her vest. Ruby stifled a giggle. Cinder paused as she raised an eyebrow and turned to stare at Ruby. "I suppose this is amusing to you?"

"Eh heh, sorry. You just don't seem like you go camping much."

Cinder sighed, her arms falling to her sides. "No, never really got the chance. I stayed in Vale most of my life." She looked at the distant form of Beacon and further still to the faded form of the Valean skyline. "I never really got a chance to learn these things."

Ruby smiled as she yanked the thorns out of her companion's vest. "Well no need to worry. You got me." Ruby nudged Cinder with her elbow. "Besides, you'd be fine. You could've always just eaten tree roots."

Cinder shook her head as the corners of mouth twitched up.

"Come now, Ruby. Tree roots are beneath me."

Ruby smiled wider, the evening light causing her eyes to shimmer. "That's the spirit! Now let's walk over those roots to that hill we are so close to. We can set up camp up there, have a lay of the land, and see if there are any streams out here."

"Where did you learn to camp again?"

Ruby's smile softened. "My family goes camping during the summer breaks. Uncle Qrow uhh... travels a lot, more than Dad at least, and wanted to make sure me and Yang could take care of ourselves. Especially after we started training to be Hunt- Guardians. Dad agreed, mainly 'cause it was good family time. Though I don't think Yang got as much out of it. Could be all the hair care product getting in her ears." Ruby frowned. "Hey, you hear something?" She peered into the clearing, where an initiate fought against a small pack of Beowolves. "Is that-"

A green kusarigama flew through the air, embedding itself into a Beowolf's forehead. It was yanked back, ripping the blade from the monster's skull and recoiling on its chain. At its anchor, Sapphire slashed her other weapon in its sickle form, cutting through a Beowolf's leg and another's stomach. With her kusarigama retracted all the way, she flicked the weapons, folding them into a pair of small guns. She quickly blasted a Beowolf's head, obliterating it. A final Beowolf reared its claw back, before an arrow and bullet cut through its wrist and head. It collapsed to the ground.

Holstering her weapons, Sapphire glanced at the pair shoving their way through the treeline.

"Ooh! You're Mercury's friend, right? Name. A name, I know I've heard it when Yang was complaining about Mercur- Sapphire! It was Sapphire. We found someone else, Cinder. Cool. She can join our coalition." Ruby said as she bounced on her feet.

"That may not be the most appropriate word to use in this situation, Ruby." Cinder said, glancing at the young girl.

"Because coalitions are only between two people?"

"Something to that effect, yes."

"You know, I'm not opposed to working together, but do you mind if we move away from here before discussing anything?" Sapphire asked as she crossed her arms.

Cinder raised an eyebrow.

"No need to be hostile. There's always time to properly articulate yourself."

"Considering we're in the middle of a Grimm-infested forest and currently surrounded by the dissolving corpses of ones that attacked me, I'mma disagree."

"Hmm. A valid point. Best to adjourn to the hill then. Ruby?"

Cinder and Sapphire both turned to Ruby, who had the bottom of her cape bunched in her hands. "What word do you use in this situation?" The young girl muttered. "I know I've heard it before... no, wait. It wasn't _that_. Uncle Qrow told me to never repeat that. Oh! It's _team_!"

Ruby pumped her fist into the air as she finished.

Sapphire snorted.

"I believe that is an acceptable alternative, Ruby." Cinder chuckled, shaking her head.

"Yes!" Ruby pumped her fist again.

She then pointed at the green hill jutting just above the trees. "We're setting up camp up there. We should grab a bit of firewood before we get up there, so we don't have to come back down."

The group began hiking up towards the hill at the far side of the clearing. They passed the treeline, and navigated their way towards their future campsite. Ruby stood at the front with Sapphire, the two using their weapons to cut through the assortment of thick bushes and small trees. They cleared a path that Cinder followed, her arms filled with firewood.

Sapphire brushed a stray hair out of her face. "Hey Ruby?"

"Hmm?" Ruby cut down a short sapling, before pushing her way through the debris.

"Why aren't you with Yang?"

Ruby snorted. "I haven't found her yet. I was headed toward her, but then kinda got sidetracked. She's probably moved by now."

"If Mercury's stories are accurate, you could just follow the nearest forest fire right to her." The dark-skinned girl said, smirking.

"You're… not wrong. Oh man, making the fire tonight is gonna be harder without Yang."

* * *

Weiss walked down a small path beaten into the forest floor, bricks peaking out from underneath the soil and grass, the path cutting straight through the forest. A rotted post stood on the side of the pathway, illegible script weathered until it was nothing more than stains on the dilapidated wood.

Weiss kept her sword ready in her left hand. The tip of the weapon swayed as she walked. She glanced above her and frowned. The sun was below the treeline, only streaks of orange and red cutting through the sky. "It's getting late. I need to find shelter, there is no use in getting caught out her- what on Remnant?"

Weiss' eyes narrowed as her gaze latched onto smoke drifting into the air. She set her jaw, nodding, before setting out to find the source.

She ran through the forest, tearing through bushes and around trees. A glance upward showed that the orange and yellow light was disappearing, and the world kept getting dimmer. Weiss ran harder.

"- fire is not covered, we'll need someone on guard." A feminine voice drifted into hearing range. Weiss smiled.

"You volunteering?"

"No, Mercury, I'm just stating the facts."

And Weiss ran straight toward the campsite. She broke the treeline, tearing out of the borders. As she sprinted, her boot caught on a root and she stumbled, before falling.

"Ooof!" Weiss slid, before coming to a rest at a set of brown boots. She glanced up into a pair of lilac eyes.

"Hey there, Princess. You look a little… _down_." Weiss groaned as she dragged herself to her feet, sheathing her weapon.

Mercury groaned louder. "Yang, please. These puns are gonna bring a horde of Grimm down on us."

"Only as soon as your sulking does."

Mercury's eyes snapped towards the blonde. "I don't sulk." Yang quirked an eyebrow. "Tell me one time I've ever sulked."

Yang smiled. "How about when the sun started going down, and you got really quiet because we didn't find your friend?"

Mercury's opened his mouth.

Weiss held up both hands, stepping between the two. "Both of you, calm down a bit. Grimm sense negativity, remember?"

"Yes, _mom._ Because banter in the woods is _definitely_ gonna get us torn in two by a Goliath." Mercury scoffed. "Seriously, we can handle what this forest has to offer."

Yang shifted her weight from one foot to the other as Weiss turned a glare towards Mercury. "Well Mercury, we're fighting in the middle of the forest with a fire that has no cover. And you sulk. Not a good combination."

Yang chuckled to herself until Weiss turned to her. "Sorry. Ruby was always really outdoorsy, so she was the one who took care of covering the fire or anything if Dad didn't. And we needed to cook the rabbit I caught." Weiss noted the cooked mammal on a makeshift spit above the fire.

Mercury raised a finger. Weiss shut him down. "Ok. We should eat, then set up a guard rotation." Weiss glanced around the clearing. "Anybody have any issues with any of this?"

Mercury snorted. "Yeah, one. Who exactly put you in charge? Who are you, anyway?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "My name is Weiss Schwartz and from how you two have been acting so far, I'm surprised you were able to set up a campfire, much less catch a rabbit."

Yang pulled a small rag from the inside of her coat, sitting on a log. She detached Ember Celica before starting to clean it. "We didn't look for each other. And we only stuck together to have a better chance of finding some others." Yang grinned. "Though if you think we're bad now, try us when we aren't too tired to fight."

Mercury smiled. "Remember when I said your hair looked like crap, and you burned down lecture hall three?"

"Damn right I do. How about when I called you a suck up and you broke the board?"

Mercury smiled. "Damn, that school was nice."

"Signal was great." Yang glanced at Mercury. "Hey Merc, grab me and Weiss some rabbit, will ya?" Mercury grunted. He trudged across the clearing, a small carving knife in hand. He crouched by the fire, bringing the knife to bear on the rabbit.

"Speaking of schools, where did you go, Weiss?" Yang patted the spot next to her on the log. Weiss hesitated, before taking the seat. "I know you for a fact you didn't go to Signal. And you definitely aren't one of those older people who come here after a stint in the military."

Weiss took a deep breath. "I went to school in Atlas. My sister also had a hand in teaching me combat skills." Weiss drew at her rapier, gazing at her reflection in the flickering light of the fire. "Winter fights with finesse. She knows where to hit, when to attack, how she should strike. She is a force of nature."

Yang smiled at Weiss. "You sound like you admire your sister a lot."

"I do." Weiss said, before a grimace crossed her face. "Though she has her own… eccentricities that can be harrowing to deal with."

"Here's your rabbit." Mercury flung a chunk meat at Weiss. She fumbled for a moment, before catching the cube. Mercury smirked, before he chucked one at Yang, who caught it in her mouth.

Weiss scowled. "Was that necessary?"

Mercury shrugged. "Sure it was. You need to work on your reflexes."

Yang snorted.

Weiss' scowl deepened, before she shook her head. "You two are impossible." She took a quick bite of her rabbit. Tension eased out of her shoulders.

Yang flicked her hair. "No need to thank me for my fabulous cooking." Mercury stuck his tongue out behind her. Weiss stifled a grin. Yang turned back towards Mercury, eyebrow raised.

Mercury yawned. "Sorry. Meat was a bit gamey for my taste." Yang gave him a flat look. "Better luck next time, Xiao Long."

Weiss shrugged. "It wasn't too bad. Especially since I half expected to be eating berries this entire time. Anything is better than berries for three days." Weiss reached for her small canteen and shook it. The canteen made no noise.

"Here." Yang pulled a canteen from behind her back, handing it to Weiss. "Just a little something to wash that gamey-" Mercury grinned, "- meat down."

Weiss smiled. "Thank you."

Yang shrugged. "Eh. No biggie. Just give it to the jackass when you're done. He broke _his_ fighting some Beowolves before I even ran into him."

Mercury flicked Yang in the back of the head. "I'll take first watch once you two are asleep. I need some peace and quiet."

Yang smirked.

Mercury's hand tensed.

"What, need some more time to brood?"

Mercury threw a piece of rabbit at her.

* * *

Ruby sat on a rock with Crescent Rose in rifle form. One hand was draped across the stock, propping herself up with the other as she leaned back. She yawned, the orange and red light lighting up her expression as the sun rose in the distance.

The view from their campsite stretched across the landscape, the forest a continuous expanse of green. Obscuring the view from extending any further stood Beacon itself, the valley the Jade Forest lay in stretching to either side of it and extending farther than the eye could see, slowly diminishing into simple green hues.

Ruby glanced at the covered structure beside her. Small puffs of smoke snuck through a tiny hole in the top, dispersing before the smoke had any chance to become visible. A small stack of logs stood next to the covered flame, and no more than seven were left. Laying around the fire were Sapphire and Cinder, both of them and their weapons, just next to their makeshift bedding. Moss had been packed onto the dry dirt, softening the surface for sleeping. A third moss 'bed' was unoccupied, lying flattened just beyond the fire.

Ruby's joints popped as she sat up, Crescent Rose dangling at her side. She glanced over at her sleeping compatriots. "Should I…" Ruby's face curled into a pout. "I don't want to wake them up, but… ah, darn it." Ruby got up, smoothing her skirt down, before dragging her feet as she plodded her way to her sleeping friends. She bent down, before touching Sapphire on the shoulder. The sleeping girl groaned, before her eyes cracked open.

Sapphire stared at Ruby. "It has to be wayyy too early to get uuup."

"Come on, I want to show you two something."

Sapphire groaned from the ground.

The cloaked girl crept up to Cinder, doing the same.

"Ruby?" Cinder rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to show you the pretty sunrise."

Cinder stared at her. Ruby smiled.

"Well?" She grabbed Cinder's arm and dragged her off of the moss-covered floor.

The sun gleamed as it rose above the opposite side of the forest. The remnants of the night sky stretched and mixed with the dawn. The glowing orb sat just next to Beacon on the horizon, showing the towers in red and orange light. The foliage below shone in the glowing dawn, flowers reflecting the light and casting long shadows

Sapphire blinked several times, before rubbing her eyes. Cinder stared.

"Nice view." Sapphire stretched her back as she yawned.

"I know, right?!" Ruby's grin glowed.

Cinder winced, rubbing her ear.

Ruby blushed. "Eh heh, sorry. Forgot that you just woke up." Ruby fiddled with her cloak. "It's just that Dad would always gently wake us up to watch the sunrise when we went camping. Well, gently wake me and Yang up, though Yang had a hard time staying awake. Uncle Qrow got a different wake up call, though. He got flung into the closest body of water. He'd come up trying to deck Dad, who'd get him in a chokehold as we all watched the sunrise."

"That's… interesting." Cinder said, glancing at Ruby.

Ruby nodded. "It got better after Dad decided Yang was good enough at fighting to get the same. He'd start tossing them both into the water. Even two against one, he still got them in a chokehold before the sunrise. Then we'd get what we needed for the day."

Sapphire shrugged. "Well, as much as I'd like to get more sleep, we should probably get to the 'what we need' part." She gestured to the forest around them. "We're probably not going to have much in the way of ease and relaxation out here."

Cinder nodded. "Yes, that seems for the best. We should set up defenses if we're making this our permanent camp." She cast a glance around the hilltop. "We've got a lot of work to do if we want this thing to stand up to any sustained assault in the future, and the amount of Grimm will only increase over the next few days."

Ruby bit her lip. "We're also gonna need more food. I know my way around a forest pretty well, so maybe I could hunt while you two build some defenses?"  
Sapphire smirked. "I think I may have a few good ideas for that."

Cinder glanced at Sapphire's grin, then shuddered as she scooted over.

Ruby smiled wide. "Okay. That sounds great."

Cinder looked at Sapphire's grin again. Sapphire's teeth gleamed.

"Please don't leave me with the menace." Cinder's face remained flat.

"I'll be back in a few hours. You guys just sit tight!"

Ruby walked down the slope with a spring in her step.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow at Cinder. "Menace?"

Cinder glared at Sapphire. "I've seen looks like the one you have on. I've yet to see an individual follow up that look with a benevolent act."

Sapphire hummed. "Fair enough." Her eyes narrowed. "But we should probably get to work on setting up some form of defense here. Don't suppose ya got a ditch-digging semblance?"

"Nothing so immediately useful. Though if it's tools you require, I might be able to accommodate you."

Sapphire blinked. "Oh?" She smiled. "Well, that's better than nothing."

* * *

Cardin stalked alongside the rapids, weapon held across his body. Around him marched a dozen other initiates. Blades were held up at the ready, and more than a few of the initiates were scowling. Birds didn't chirp. No bushes rustled, nor twigs snapped. The forest remained silent save their marching.

Cardin turned to the group. He stood straighter, his armor clinking slightly at the motion. His settled his mace on his shoulder. "The nearest clearing is still at least a couple miles away. Keep your weapons up, and your heads down. Lack of wildlife here is more than suspicious, and we shouldn't be caught flat-footed with this many of us." Cardin pointed to a dirty blond in light armor. "You. What's your name?"

"Dove Bronzew-"

"Cool. You can take point with Fido over there."

"That isn't my name." Cardin ignored the fox-eared faunus.

"You with the mohawk, you watch the right. Blue-ha-"

A howl rent the air, everyone freezing at the sound.

"... We need to move. Now." A dark-skinned young man said, his white eyes roving over the group.

"I don't know if you're deaf or something, Fox, but that sound came from the same direction as the clearing."

"Guy's got a point though." Cardin said, starting forward again. "No point standing here being sitting ducks-"

The bushes to his right exploded as a Beowolf tore through it with a roar, clambering towards the initiates. Cardin whipped his weapon around.

A small pop ended the Beowolf with a hole through its head as it fell to the ground. The fox faunus flicked his derringer back open, replacing the fired shot.

Grimm burst through the treeline.

"Shit! Keep together!" Cardin held his mace in his right hand and lowered his stance.

A Boarbatusk barrelled the first. A shot pierced its eye as it ran, causing it to lose its footing. It fell on its side and skid to a halt in front of the group.

The Boarbatusk was skewered on a halberd before it could recover. Beowolves charged after, ripping up the dirt beneath their feet. They were met with the flashes of steel.

Cardin whipped to his left, gripping his weapon tightly. An Ursa swiped a meaty fist towards him. He twirled his weapon in a tight circle and whipped it forward. The head of the mace smashed through the Ursa's wrist. The beast roared, spittle landing on the teen's face. Scowling, he reversed his strike and sent the mace crashing into the Ursa's skull. The beast fell to the ground.

Cardin then glanced around, seeing a large Beowolf bounding towards him. It landed in front of him, letting loose a flurry of swipes. Cardin wove between the strikes for a moment before thrusting through, catching the beast in the neck. With a whine, the Beowolf stumbled back. The initiate stepped forward, rearing back with his mace before smashing it into the monster's head, caving it in. He turned back to the group.

"Get away from the treeline!" Cardin swung his mace into a Beowolf approaching the rear of the group. "Don't let yourself get surrounded! Stick with the group!"

He swung his mace in a wide arc towards the Grimm in front of him. Several jumped out of his reach. The head of the weapon smashed into the side of a Boarbatusk, its plates crushed beneath the blow. Cardin retracted the mace before swinging it into the soil, activating its Dust.

The ground exploded. Silt flew into the air and several Grimm were staggered by the blow. Small chunks of rocks battered fighters on all sides. Cardin dove through the smoke and swung. Three Beowolves fell. He quickly fell back, gunfire covering his retreat. Cardin saw the Grimm forming an arc, completely surrounding them with their backs to the rapids.

Cardin's armor was dented in several places. His eyes flicked to his scroll spying his aura at thirty-three percent. He sighed, cracked his neck, and kept swinging.

An Ursa barreled past Cardin, knocking him down. The boy next to him went down hard, vanishing in a blur of black, white, and red. The boy's aura blurred under the assault, then flickered out.

Cardin got up, swinging his mace. The head of the mace struck the Ursa's forearm, breaking its grip on the body. He grabbed the shattered limb and heaved backwards. The Ursa fell into the rapids, disappearing under the turbulent waves.

As the gunfire began to lull on the shore, the Grimm crawled closer. A blue-haired initiate went down in a flurry of limbs. He kicked the Beowolf off of himself, then fired three quick bursts from a handgun. Fido grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away from the tide, derringer popping rounds into the tide.

Fox dove to the front of the line, long blades stretching down his forearm before bending away from his body with a curve.

A barely audible shout rose over the fighting. A small pillar of fire erupted on the other side of the horde. Cardin smashed his mace through a Boarbatusk as the Grimm turned to it. He slid into the crowd, his arms swinging as he smashed through the horde.

The air to his left flash-froze and a row of ice tore its way through the horde. The spikes blocked the rest of the Grimm, securing the entirety of the left flank. Cardin activated his mace's Dust again, and blew apart a large Ursa. Fox wove into the crowd, cutting Grimm down before a clawed paw knocked him back towards the shore. He got up and moved through a gap in the defenders, shaking his head and spitting out some water. Flames burned through the Grimm, the smell of burned fur rising through the air.

Flare-like shells tore into the crowd of Grimm from the opposite side. The Grimm horde was whittled down to the point that Cardin could see their backup. A blonde haired brawler covered in flames, a silver-haired kickboxer, and a white-haired fencer. Cardin grinned.

"We're almost done! Tear them to shreds!"

The blue-haired guy's halberd flicked out first, decapitating a Boarbatusk from the bottom of its neck. Knives sliced, bludgeons smashed, and Grimm collapsed under the pressure. Cardin laughed.

* * *

"Holy shit, am I glad you guys got here in time."

Yang quirked a brow at the armored teen in front of her. Sweat shined on his brow. His teeth shone white where they weren't stained with dirt and blood while his armor was covered in dust and dented in half a dozen spots.

Next to him was a body. Deep lacerations lined its head and neck, with its face torn open and blond hair scattered in a halo of blood. Its torso was a mess of flesh and wounds that Yang could only glance at.

"Eh." Mercury wiped some mud off his boot and flicked it back to the ground. "Heard the gunshots and screaming. Couldn't just leave you guys to die."

Yang nodded. "People need to stick together, especially out here."

Cardin chuckled. "And thank the gods for that. I thought we were dead back there."

Weiss grimaced. "I'm sorry about those you lost."

Cardin coughed. "Yeah, well, there wasn't exactly a small amount of Grimm out there. We made do with what we had." Cardin smiled. "Not a lot of casualties for a horde of that size either, so that's a plus."

Yang frowned.

Mercury sighed. "Still, sorry about the guy you lost."

The mace wielder shrugged and popped his shoulder.

Yang nodded her head at the body. "So who was he?"

Cardin sighed as he shouldered his mace. "Some kinda bird, I think. It was hectic. Swan... Duck... Crow?"

Yang's hand clenched as she glared at the teen, whose head was leaned back as he looked into the sky. He snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah. It was Dove. Good fighter, but he didn't have enough staying power... and I didn't notice the Grimm barreling into him in time. Though that _thing_ didn't outlast Dove long."

"So," Mercury's eyes flicked towards Dove's body, before shifting to look at Cardin. "What are you going to do with the body?"

Cardin scowled. "Not much we can do. He picked a damned bad spot to die."

Yang's hair sparked. "As if he had a _say_ in where he died?"

Cardin shot a glare at Yang. "We're going to try to take his weapon back for his family. Maybe having a spare around could save someone. For the body, the best we could do is dump it into the rapids."

Weiss pulled out a Red Dust crystal. "We could cremate the body. This should be enough, and we should show some respect towards the fallen."

"Too much smoke, not to mention the smell might draw Grimm. 'Sides, Fido over there-" the young man pointed to a fox-eared faunus sitting on a log, "-said we've got ground to cover before we find a spot to set up camp.

"Well, if you guys want to stick around, we'd be happy to have some more good fighters around here." Cardin said, grinning.

"Sorry," Yang scowled. "We have people to find and places to be."

"And we can get you there, if you want. Our destination is a clearing in a few miles, and we'll be free to escort you when we get where we need to be. Why not just tag along?"

Yang growled.

"We'll think about it." Mercury reached out his hand. Cardin ignored it.

Cardin picked up Dove's body and stalked to the rapids.

"Perhaps we should go." Weiss stared at the retreating teen. "While there may be safety in numbers, there is merit to be said for the speed of a smaller group."

Yang stared at the body hanging off of Cardin's armor as he retreated.

She continued to stare as he dropped the body into the water, scowl marring her face and muscles tensed.

After a minute had gone by, the body swept clear of the camp and the water clear of blood, Yang took a deep breath.

Cardin swaggered over to the trio.

"So. You make a choice yet?"

Mercury opened his mouth.

"Oh, and just for a heads up this is the third attack we've had in two days. Though they don't get any nicer to cope with. You helped us out, so we'll help you out in turn if you stay with us. So you ready to get going?"

Mercury took a deep breath, then spoke.

* * *

Cinder leaned down and swung her blades into the ground. The blades bit deep into the soil. She levered the blades out of the ground flat-up, the soil loosening even further. She stepped past the loosened dirt, and chopped into the spot next to it.

Sapphire, standing in a narrow furrow with a small shovel made of glass, began digging the loosened dirt out of the ground, laying it across the side opposite to their camp.

"When I said 'better than nothing'," She paused, wiping sweat from her forehead, "I didn't mean this."

Cinder swung her blades back down into the dirt again. "Well, we do not have sand, a furnace, or other materials, so glass defenses aren't necessarily feasible. So all we can really use it for is tools. As I already said."

Sapphire glanced at the other girl from the corner of her eye. "And what part of what I said made me the one who has to shovel?"

Cinder shrugged. "None."

Sapphire leveled a glare at the young woman.

Cinder smiled, then ducked - laughing - as a shovelful of dirt flew over her head.

"I hate you." The glass shovel bit back into the dirt.

"It came down to me or you, so naturally I picked you." Cinder stood straight, her back popping as she flexed.

"How noble." Sapphire glared up at Cinder with one hand massaging her neck.

"I never said I was. And we've done enough in one sitting, I'd say."

Sapphire glanced at their work. A shallow trench stretched in a loose semicircle around the camp. It was three feet deep and two feet wide, stretching across the side of the camp closer to the shallower decline.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow at Cinder. "Oh really? I couldn't tell."

Cinder chuckled, sheathing her swords before throwing a waterskin at Sapphire.

Sapphire caught it, opened it, and began guzzling it down in one fluid moment.

Cinder shook her head, smiling.

"What's taking Ruby so long?" Sapphire sighed. "I'm hungry, dammit."

"Be patient. All of us have particular skills, and we should give her time to exercise hers."

"Oh really?"

"Indeed. Though, some of our skills possibly overlap in some areas."

"I doubt that." Sapphire snorted. "You seem to be more of the 'upper society' type. Rubbing elbows with the high and mighty. Taking advantage to whisper into the right ear."

"According to some, I may as well have. I definitely had opportunities others may have missed. And it's certainly better than hovering near them and hoping a treat falls into my hand. Wouldn't you agree, Sapphire?"

Sapphire turned to look at Cinder, red eyes staring at amber ones for a moment.

"Honestly, considering the rumors about what they eat, I wouldn't mind following with an open mouth." The green haired girl said as she tugged at her ponytail.

"I'd wager security might have a problem with that."

"It's only a problem if you get caught."

"You have a point, Sapphire, though it's best to be on the lookout. One never knows who is watching." Cinder said, grabbing a canteen from the camp.

She sipped from the canteen, staring out at the forest with a smile. The light reflected off of the vibrant green of the foliage, the heat nearly visible on the rocks in the camp. The shadows of the forest rippled and moved in the noon heat.

Cinder frowned, setting her canteen down as she drew her blades and pushed the pommels together, forming her bow. She walked back toward the ditch, pulling out a small capsule from a pouch on her side. She then formed an arrow out of the glass shovel, weaving its architecture around the capsule. She notched it, letting it point at the ground as she glanced around.

"Sapphire. I think we have uninvited guests." Cinder's eyes darted around the edges of the camp. Red pinpricks were visible through the foliage along with the quiet rustle of leaves.

"Wha- shit!" Cinder heard a muted thump, then the sound of metal on leather followed by the grinding of shifting gears. "You see any of them?"

"I can only make out the eyes. I cannot make out an exact number, though there seems to be a lot of them."

"And they're probably gonna attack soon." Sapphire's voice came from Cinder's far right, nearly behind her. "Hows about we strike first? Maybe pick a couple off with those arrows of yours?"

Cinder nodded as she brought her bow up, drawing the arrow back and aiming at one of the sets of eyes she could see. "An excellent idea. Though I almost feel sorry for them. It's quite irritating getting Dust in one's eye."

"Wait, wha-"

She loosed the arrow, watching as it disappeared into the underbrush. A moment later, a high-pitched was heard as one set of eyes jerked to the side. Cinder smirked as she snapped her fingers. A small explosion ripped through the underbrush, covering up howls, before glass fragments came streaming up the hill toward Cinder, reforming an arrow in her outstretched hand.

"What was that?" Sapphire asked.

"Controlled shrapnel blast, though it's annoying how I always lose some material to it. Now no more questions. I expect they'll be unhappy."

The Beowolves jumped out of the woods and scampered up the inclines of the hill. Cinder let loose her arrow before shifting her bow into her dual swords and taking up a stance.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sapphire firing shots into the Beowolves striking from behind, shooting at the beasts trying to breach camp perimeter. Several tripped at the low trench before being torn into by green-traced bullets as they stumbled. A growl diverted Cinder's attention back to her own fight.

The first Beowolf to reach the top of the incline swiped at her head. She ducked and the blow swung over her head. She lashed out with her left sword, cutting straight through the beast's midsection.

She backed away from the downed Grimm, clearing her vision of the collapsing beast. A Boarbatusk charged at her with its tusks aimed for her midsection. She rolled to the side of the monster as it passed and slashed her sword up, slicing through its neck. Her head snapped to the side, drawn by a series of deep growls.

Two Beowolves were charging her from the edge of the hill. As they reached her, Cinder slashed one across its throat causing it to stumble back. She hacked her other sword into the second monster's chest, the edge biting deep into a chink in the bone plate and wedging itself in. She ducked under a swing from the Grimm, moving behind it and gripping the handle of her sword. She then slammed her other sword into the Beowolf's neck, dropping it to the ground.

Cinder put her foot on the dissolving corpse, tearing her swords free before turning towards the tide of Grimm.

Behind her she heard metal on bone and snarls.

"She can handle herself."

The tide of Grimm oozing through the treeline began to slow. A dozen Beowolves and Ursai stood in front of her, clawing the ground. Cinder glanced down the line.

"I suppose it's up to me to take the initiative here, wouldn't you say?"

Cinder charged the horde with a smirk plastered across her face.

* * *

 **AN: And so Initiation begins! As you can tell, this isn't gonna be a very pleasant trial for our Initiates. RIP Dove, he won't be missed much. The Guardians are definitely not being coddled throughout their training. Next chapter comes the conclusion to both this fight scene and Initiation as a whole, and it is going to be one hell of a conclusion.**

 **Terra: Bird is on the menu tonight, everyone!**

 **Faust: I'll take the blame for the first blood… I'm not sorry.**

 **Monkey #2: Goodbye, sweet Duck.**

 **Saltykov: "We'll try to get [the next chapter] out to you as soon as we can," I believe were Killjoy's exact words. One month and twenty Microsoft Word pages later, I've come to the conclusion that Killjoy would make a great politician -** _ **because he always lies**_ **. Also, 'Fido' is apparently a fox faunus. This was a surprise to me, too.**

 **Horribrah: OBJECTION! Killjoy did not lie because he didn't give an exact date. If he said something along the lines of "exactly one month to the date," then he'd be lying. Also RIP Mr. Swan**

 **Rip in pepperonis, sir Duck.**

 **7/3/2017 Terra: Just some edits, folks.**


	4. Chapter 4

Cinder ducked beneath a black arm as it lashed towards her chest, claws tearing through the air above her. She swung her sword in a small arc as she spun and removed her opponent's lower jaw. The Beowolf fell back and roared as Cinder thrust up into it. The monster sprawled onto the ground and began to dissolve. A Boarbatusk bounded through the smoke, its head lowered in a charge.

Cinder frowned as she hopped to the left, the Grimm speeding past. A quick flick of her wrists cut through the base of the neck and its head jumped off its shoulders. The Boarbatusk's body fell to the floor, sliding across the dirt.

An Ursa pushed past its companions, nearly bowling her over with its charge. It lashed out in a wide arc. She leaned past the blow, darting into its guard. Two deep cuts later and it fell.

The rest of the pack converged on her, several snarling Beowolves clambering over their own feet as their eyes flashed and jaws snapped. Cinder rolled her eyes as her swords lashed out in opposite directions and tore through flesh. Bodies from the left flank hit the ground before her and she jumped back, dodging jagged claws. She pulled her swords back and swung them both in a sweeping curve from her left hip to her right shoulder and the next offender dropped to the ground as another Beowolf backed away, a deep gash marring its face.

She refocused as two final Beowolves fell upon her. The larger of the pair growled and lashed out. The other one cringed back to avoid the wildly swung claw.

Cinder ducked under the blow and the monster fell off balance. Stepping into its guard, she slashed both swords across the its midsection. She darted towards the other one as the first began to fall to the ground. The standing Beowolf shot its arm out, claws outstretched. Cinder cut off the hand, before thrusting into its chest.

Snarls and growls filled the air behind her. She slid the blades of her swords together into her bow. With a flick of her hand, glass from a side pouch swirled into an arrow, fusing itself together and notching itself on the drawstring. Her eyes scanned the scene before her.

Sapphire twisted and jumped between a dozen Grimm, jade blades flicking in and out of the crowd ahead of her. An Ursa flanked her and she lashed out with her weapon. The beast folded into itself, then toppled as its head flew off of its torso.

Cinder drew back the arrow, aimed, then loosed the string. The transparent projectile flew through the air, spiralling towards its target. It hit a Boarbatusk and embedded itself into its head. She focused on the arrow briefly before shaking her head, turning away as she nocked another one and muttered to herself. "No time now. Grab it after the battle."

Cinder let more arrows fly into the swarming crowd, felling more Grimm. A jade blade cut through a Boarbatusk before parrying a blow before the dead Grimm hit the ground. A massive Beowolf smashed its paw into the soil just next to Sapphire and she stepped back, a scowl on her face. Cinder fired an arrow, then frowned as the glass shattered against its hide. Sapphire danced back towards the center of the clearing as she weaved through slashes from the final Grimm.

A shot rang out through the clearing, a hole sprouting in the Beowolf's head as it jerked to the side. A second shot rang out as a hole opened in its chest. The beast fell to the ground, jerked twice, then stilled. Cinder turned and looked across the clearing. In the corner of her eye she could see Sapphire doing the same.

Ruby stood with her scythe planted in the ground and smoke drifting up from the barrel. Sweat glimmered on her forehead as she panted. A deer with a hole through its chest lay on the ground behind her.

"Uhh… hey. I got us dinner. And some berries."

Cinder shook her head as a smile stretched across her face. Sapphire laughed.

* * *

Mercury shoved a branch out of his way, pushing his way through the forest. Behind him Yang and Weiss trudged along in single file. Weiss' hand rested on the hilt of her rapier, while Yang's gauntlets stretched across her forearms. Birdsong and the chirping of insects filled the forest as they hiked. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a bright orange glare on the forest.

"So any ideas where to look for them first?"

Weiss glanced at Mercury from the back of the group. "I'm not quite sure. There weren't a lot of forests like this in Atlas."

Yang hummed. "We should find some place high, so we can see where they might be. Ruby likes to watch the sunrise in the morning, so wherever they are, it needs to have a clear view east."

"Someplace with a view east? That could be any clearing with a rock in it, Xiao Long."

"I'm sorry, weren't you the one asking for ideas?"

"Yeah. Useful ones."

Weiss shook her head. "Must every exchange between you two become an argument?"

Mercury and Yang stared at Weiss.

"You've been with us for more than three hours, Weissy, you should know better by now." Yang shook her head at the girl. "Anyways, Flappy Feet, what I was _going_ to say was that she's probably camping up on one of those big hills we saw when we first dropped in."

He blinked. "There were hills?" Yang raised an eyebrow and he put his hands up. "Hey, don't give me that look. I was trying not to get flattened against a tree."

Weiss sighed. Yang gave her a sidelong look and snorted.

"Yes, Mercury, there were hills. All the way in the back, too. Up for a hike?"

"I'll beat you there." Mercury grinned.

"Don't be so sure. You can't keep up with this." Yang pointed at herself with two thumbs.

Weiss facepalmed. "Why couldn't I have just stumbled into your sister?"

"Because," Yang winked. "Then me and Mercury would be on our own and we'd probably burn the forest down by accident."

"We would."

"And we all know it would be on Mercury."

"If that helps you sleep at night, sure."

"I should have stayed in Atlas." Weiss sighed.

Yang smiled at the white-haired girl. "C'mon! Don't be like that, we gave you food."

"Food isn't quite enough pay for babysitting. Though now that you mention it, I am getting peckish."

"Then start foraging, Schwartz." Weiss and Yang turned to look at Mercury as he popped a handful of berries into his mouth. "It'll at least distract you from 'babysitting'."

"Do you have any decorum?" Pale blue eyes narrowed as they stared at the young man.

He grinned. "Mind defining that?"

"Not after sleeping with a rock jabbing into my back for two hours. You two took all the good spots."

"I've got two of them now." Yang brushed some hair out of her eyes and grinned. "City boy and city girl. Today just gets better."

Mercury groaned. "Don't start this."

She grinned. "It's not my fault no one taught you two how to survive in the wilderness."

"I'll kick you in the face. You know I will." The young man's boot crushed a stick as they pushed their way through a thicket, breaking into a break in the brush filled with old, tall trees.

"No you won't, I'd just climb a tree." Yang smirked. "Can you climb trees, city boy?" Mercury turned to glare at Yang, his knees beginning to bend. He blinked as Weiss stepped in front of him.

"Please, try not to instigate Yang while we're still in a combat zone." She said, prodding him in the chest, a scowl on her face.

He laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it. No need to poke me." He walked past Weiss shaking his head. "Seriously, loosen up a little bit. There's nothing to worry about."

Weiss remained quiet. The trio continued their walk through the forest, the sun inching across the sky as they trekked through the wilderness.

The farther out they hiked the more devastated the forest became. Trees had been uprooted and were leaning against their neighbors, bushes were dead and shriveled, and scarred stones were scattered across the forest. The occasional weapon was thrust into the ground.

Mercury was tense, eyes sweeping everything. His hand twitched at every shadow cast by the afternoon sun. Yang kept Ember Celica at the ready, red gleaming at the edge of her irises. Weiss' hand never left her rapier's hilt, her eyes narrowed.

The ground made a wet squelch into the still air as Mercury stepped onto a darkened patch of dirt. He stiffened as he heard Weiss draw her sword, before he quickly turned and kicked his leg out, firing off a shot. Yang followed suit.

The shots hit a tree trunk, obliterating it and causing the tree to fall to the ground with a loud crash.

The trio tensed, waiting.

"There was… nothing there?" Yang asked.

"Sorry." Weiss bowed her head. "That probably wasn't my wisest move today."

Mercury sighed as he rubbed at his temple.

* * *

Cinder sat by a fire as shadows flickered in the corners of the campsite. Dusk lingered on the horizon, the sun skimmed through it throwing orange light across the forest. Light flickered across the campsite, thrown by the dim fire. The bones from their dinner sat in a pile next to the firepit. Sapphire threw the last bone, picked clean, onto the pile.

Sapphire walked over to a log where Ruby sat and patted the younger girl on the shoulder.

"Not bad." Sapphire smiled. "Could've used some salt, though."

"Yeah," Ruby's boot scraped the ground. "A few more ingredients would've helped, but I have no clue where I would've found salt here."

Cinder hummed. "Yes, and I'm sure nobody would expect you to know the forest well enough to find seasonings."

Ruby grinned and stood up. "I'm gonna go stretch my legs."

"Before bed?" Sapphire shook her head

"Yep." Ruby frowned. "I just want to check, one last time, if anybody is in the clearing with the ruins down there. If they are, we've got a spot by the fire to let them sleep, right?"

Cinder blinked. "You could just say you're worried about your sister. We all know that's what you mean."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The younger girl coughed.

"This is the third time you've stretched your legs in the last hour."

"You checked every time?"

Sapphire laughed. "Your sister's a tough girl, Ruby. She can handle herself."

"I know, but still!"

Cinder smiled. "So you are worried."

"I never said that!"

"Of course you didn't. Just hurry up checking. We're all quite tired and we've still got another day of this."

Ruby jumped to her feet and bounced on her toes once. She ran to the edge of the campfire and looked out over the clearing. Cinder smiled and shook her head.

"You think they're going to be there?"

Cinder chuckled. "Probably not. They haven't been the last several times she's tried to check-"

"I see them!"

Cinder's mouth fell open. "Come again?"

"Yeah, they're right over there, across the clearing." Ruby grinned. "Yang's hair is bright enough I could see them from here even without Crescent Rose, and they have a fire going."

Cinder stood up, ignoring Sapphire's laughter as she jogged over to where Ruby stood. In the low light, a small patch of yellow was visible moving across the wrecked ruined building, light flickering inside across the overgrown bricks.

Ruby frowned. "She really needs to learn how to make fires without being obvious about it."

"You were saying?" Sapphire asked, smiling.

"Do you try to get on people's nerves, Sapphire? Or is it just natural?"

"Meh. Little bit of both."

Cinder groaned.

"Wanna go meet up with the overprotective sister and whoever's with her?" Sapphire pointed down the slope. "Cuz Ruby's already halfway down."

Cinder glanced down the edge of the hill and saw a streak of red speeding towards the ruined building. Ruby collided with her sister and they both went down in a heap.

"We should make sure Yang and her group are alright and fed." Cinder looked back at a sack sitting on one of their makeshift log benches. "After all, it's not as if we're lacking in supplies."

"Yeah, sure, let's give 'em some stuff. At this rate, these supplies will last us through all of Initiati-"

A single howl sounded in the distance.

Cinder's hands fell to her swords as more howls filled the air. She then turned and looked at Sapphire. "It might be best if we group up with everyone down there."

"No shit!" The two dashed down the hill for the ruins. Four figures stood in the shelter of the shattered building. Yang was looking around with her fists held up and a grimace stretched across her face.

Ruby stood next to her sister, facing the treeline. She flicked Crescent Rose open and the scythe unfurled. With another flick, the blade extended further, the entire blade folding back in one piece until it stood parallel to the haft.

Across from her stood Mercury, his eyes wide and his leg coiled. Weiss stood closest to the entering girls, rapier held ready in her left hand. Her eyes were narrowed as her eyes swept the treeline.

"Cinder. I'd say it's nice to see you, but now is most definitely not the time for idle conversation."

"Clearly." Cinder nodded. "I expect that we'll be facing a horde in minutes."

Weiss sighed. "Not the first time today. This isn't going to be a day I look fondly back on, that's for sure."

Mercury glanced back from his position by the doors. "Do we have a plan, or are we just going to hit whatever comes at us until it's dead?"

Yang snorted. "Hitting them always seems to work. Why change things up now?"

"This explains your scores in anything involving tactics, Xiao Lo-"

"Will you two stop flirting." Sapphire said with a glare. "I don't want that being the last thing I see before a fight with Grimm."

"The young man is right." Amber eyes glanced around the ruins. "We need a plan. There are far too many of us here to go our own way haphazardly."

"Name's Mercury, lady. Not 'young man'."

"And mine is Cinder, as Weiss has already brou-"

"Quiet!" White, pony-tailed hair bobbed as Weiss glanced about. "Do you hear that?"

The others paused, as soft crashes and snaps gained volume. A rolling Boarbatusk burst through the treeline around the ruins, gaining speed as it headed toward the group. Cries rang out as an angled white glyph sprang up in front of the beast, sending it skyward.

Ruby slammed into the airborne Grimm, petals raining down onto the rest of the group, her weapon puncturing into the beast's side. She landed on its back, weapon shaft following her, as the Boarbatusk continued spinning. A smile flit across her face as she pulled the trigger, the recoil forcing the embedded blade up and out of the Grimm, bisecting it as Ruby flipped to the ground, landing in a crouch. The dissolving corpse landed behind her with a wet thud.

"You go, sis!" Yang smiled as she gave a thumbs up.

"… Right. Forgot about Little Miss Hummingbird. Schwartz. Was that glyph you?"

"It was." Weiss said, turning to Mercury.

"Can you do it again?"

"Yes. Why?"

The young man grinned. "Because I've got a plan now. Stay in the middle of us, on crowd control. Me and Xiao Long will stay on the outside. Lead them to us, we can take them. Sapphire," He turned to the green-haired girl, "Stay with Schwartz. Watch her in case anything slips by us."

She nodded as the two headed toward the center of the ruins.

"Hey Hummingbird, keep zipping around when you see an opening. I want Grimm-kebabs when this is done. Just make sure to watch yourself so your sister doesn't have to pull a rescue, got it?"

Ruby gave a small salute as she made her way back toward the inner part of the group, weapon back to its polearm configuration.

"As for you." Gray eyes turned to Cinder. "Where can I put you? Out in front or covering us?"

"I can handle both, with either my weapon or Dust." Swords came together, forming her bow.

"Good. Stick to the center with Schwartz and Sapphire, pick them off as best you can. If you have to, you can jump in the fray, but I'd save that for if one of us is get-"

Loud growls and barks came from the forest on all sides of the ruins.

"No more time. Places, everyone, and make sure to watch each other's asses. Only ones walking away should be us."

Everyone else nodded from their position dotted around the ruins, eyes scanning the woods. A trio of Beowolves bounded onto one of the walls, lunging forward. They slammed into a glyph and were smashed into the ground. With a chuckle, Yang launched forward into the heap with a haymaker, decapitating one and blasting a hole in another. She finished off the last with an uppercut.

"That's three for me. And Weissy, I guess." She said with a grin.

"So not the time for this, Xiao Long." Mercury called out as he axe kicked an Ursa to the ground.

"That's just envy I hear."

Cinder sighed as she loosed an arrow into a cluster of Grimm, watching it shatter and pierced their hide, slowing them before Ruby darted in.

The young girl bounced from one side of the battlefield to the other with a smile on her face as she impaled the Grimm with Crescent Rose, before launching towards her next target.

"Huh. She _does_ look like some sorta deranged hummingbird." Sapphire said as she watched Ruby flit about. "Guess it's a good thing they're so small then. Hate to imagine a people-sized one goin' abo-"

"Could you focus on what you're supposed to be doing, please?"

Sapphire turned to Weiss as the white-haired girl conjured more glyphs to funnel the Grimm. "What? You're doing your thing, Cinder's putting glass in their eyes, Merc and Xiao Long are doing the punchy kicky thing, and Ruby is doing her best impersonation of a shish kebab. I'm almost tacked on here. I don't do groups well."

"You did well enough earlier." Cinder said, turning toward Sapphire. A gunshot rang out, followed by a Beowolves body hitting the ground behind Cinder. She glanced at it, before looking back at Sapphire to see her holding her weapon, the barrel of the gun smoking.

"Groups of _people_ , Cinder. I do better alone or with one partner. Hows about we talk later?"

"Fair enough."

* * *

Mercury's eyes roamed the ruins, watching the last of the Grimm dissolve as he brushed off his clothes.

"That's the second time something's interrupted us after you've started a fire, Xiao Long. I'm starting to think you're bad luck." He said as he turned to the blonde.

Yang smiled as she cracked her knuckles. "Well if you want, we could try to change that by snapping a wishbone. 'Course, we're gonna have to substitute something for it. Mind giving me a hand, Twinkle Toes?" She stumbled as Ruby came up behind her and pushed her along. "Wha- Ruby?!"

"Yang. This is so not the time for this. Let's just head to the camp already."

Mercury chuckled, shaking his head as he watched Ruby shove her sister along, Weiss and Cinder following behind. He started moving forward, catching sight of the ruined campfire as he neared the forest's edge.

"Admit it, you were worried about me."

Mercury rolled his eyes as he faced Sapphire, the two slowing down as they made their way through the woods. "I was more worried about anyone unfortunate enough to be traveling with you. A poor soul, soon to be much poorer." He said, shaking his head.

"Hey now, I have boundaries."

"Yes, but they tend to be movable." He laid a hand on her shoulder as they came to a stop. "I am glad to see you alive, Saph. Small world though, you running into the Hummingbird. And another little acquaintance of yours. Hope there wasn't any trouble."

Sapphire shrugged off his hand. "None at all, Merc. We even had a nice little discussion. I'm pretty sure Miss High Class has some sticky fingers herself. Though you ain't one to talk. What's the deal, hanging around with Miss Prim-and-Proper?"

"She stumbled onto the fire Xiao Long made. Not like I could turn down help, not in this place."

"Couldn't stop yourself from helping some lost little stray, Merc?"

"I'm friends with you, aren't I?" Mercury ran a hand through his hair. "You know you're lucky you only caused her an inconvenience taking those vials, right? Considering what we've come across already that could have ended badly for her."

Sapphire flicked her hand at him. "Hey it all worked out. Besides, I knew we were coming into something big and she'd need some left."

"Really? You? I've got a real hard time believing that, Sapphire. I'm thinking you just didn't have enough time to get the rest without getting caught. You never plan beyond the pull."

"And?"

"Well that's how my old man caught you the first time."

Sapphire tugged at her ponytail as she smirked. "Come on now, I've learned since then. Gotta be more aware. Though that was how we first met, so it is kinda a mixed deal."

"That ain't the point. Beacon isn't gonna laugh and give you a slap on the wrist like pops."

"Yeah yeah, you said that when we got here."

"Then can you not blow it off?" Mercury sighed as he palmed his face. "You had us both look up rules when you got accepted. You know what they'll do."

"That's only if I get cau-"

"Emerald."

Sapphire went still for a moment before her head snapped toward Mercury, eyes narrowed and a scowl stretched across her face.

"Do I have your attention?" He asked, arms crossed across his chest. "You're right. I am worried. I'm worried you're being too flippant. One person can't challenge an organization for long. Not alone." He placed a hand on her shoulder as he looked into her eyes. "I just don't want you doing anything reckless that'll get you in over your head."

Sapphire stared into his eyes as the scowl faded from her face. Her cheeks puffed out as she snorted, then she doubled over as she burst out laughing. "This from the same person who thought it'd be a good idea to throw paint at Xiao Long's hair!"

"Don't change the subject, this isn't about me."

"What possessed you to do that?"

Mercury sighed. "She was in a funk and I figured that would get her out of it. I was right. Can we continue or would you like to keep laughing?"

"Can't do either." Sapphire straightened as she wiped at her eyes. "Moment's gone."

"Ain't that just great." Mercury said with a roll of his eyes. "Even when she's not right in your face she's a pain in the ass. Yang Xiao Long: moment killer. This isn't over."

"So what's the plan, Merc?"

"Same as it always is, Saph: don't draw the attention of the things that'll kick the shit out of us and survive till the next day."

"Sounds good."

* * *

Ruby grinned as she stood next to Cinder, glancing around the campsite. "This was even more fun that I thought. Beacon is gonna be great!"

With a raised eyebrow, Cinder looked down at Ruby. "You have odd tastes in entertainment. Fighting Grimm, watching the sunrise: put in a self-discovery journey and you'd be living a fairy tale."

A wide grin spread across Ruby's face. "That wouldn't be so bad though, would it? I always enjoyed those stories. Just as much as the history stuff."

"Really now? I'm interested, what do you know about Beacon?" Cinder smiled.

"Well- Gah!"

"Rubes, you did great out there!" Yang's arm wrapped around Ruby's neck while her other balled into a fist and rubbed against Ruby's head. "That's my little sis!"

"Yang leggo!" Ruby flailed about while Yang laughed. After a moment of squirming, Ruby squeezed her way out.

All the while, Cinder covered her smile beneath a hand. Ruby gave Cinder a glare, making her smile widen.

"So Rubes, you gonna introduce me to your new friend?" Yang's arm snaked its way around her sister's shoulder.

Ruby growled, which caused both of the older women to chuckle. She gestured at Cinder. "Yang, this is my new friend, Cinder Fall. The girl from the locker room the other day." She gestured at Yang. "Cinder, this is Yang Xiao Long, my sister. Just ignore her. She's weird."

"Me weird? That's rich coming from you." Yang crossed her arms. "So what were you two talking about?"

"History." Cinder said. "Ruby was just about to tell me some interesting facts about Beacon."

"Interesting facts? I'd like to listen in as well, if it wouldn't be any trouble." Weiss came up to the trio. "It's always fascinating to learn more about this kingdom. It was where the reforms began, after all."

A bright smile came onto Ruby's face, while Yang snorted.

"Well, back in our parents' time, the rules for Initiation were totally different. Did you know that the partners you had for your entire time at Beacon was decided by eye contact? Like, the first person you saw eye to eye was your partner for all _four_ years!" Ruby held up four of her fingers, wiggling them slightly.

"That sounds strange." Cinder chuckled. "If that was the case, then you and I would be partners."

Ruby giggled.

"Now that sounds like a nightmare." Yang said. "That means I'd be partners with Mercury."

Weiss tapped her chin. "I'm actually not sure who mine would be. Sapphire, perhaps? I'm not sure if I ever made eye contact with her."

Ruby shrugged. "Let's see, partners were then partnered with another partnership, making a four person team. Those teams had funny names based on colors too. Our parents were in Team Stark!"

Yang pursed her lips. "Yeah."

"Oh. Another fun fact: the forest we're in was always used for Initiation since the beginning, but up until a few years ago it was called the Emerald Forest!" Ruby smiled, before seeing the looks on everyone's faces.

"Ruby." Yang brought a hand to her face. "We've had talks about this."

"What?" Ruby raised her arms. "I don't get what the big deal about it is. It's just a word."

"That word is the name of a fairly dangerous terrorist organization, Ruby." Cinder said.

"So? Ten years ago it wasn't a big deal."

Yang scowled. "Times change, Ruby. Stop living in the damn past and get back to the present."

"What's your deal?"

Yang turned her head to see Weiss, arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground, staring at her. "Huh?"

"You heard me. What's your deal? Your sister doesn't need her passion shut down like that. Especially by family."

"Excuse me, princess? What gives you the right to-"

"So uh, what's going on?"

The group looked over toward the voice to see Sapphire and Mercury nearing them.

"Nothing much, Sapphire." Cinder said as she put a hand on Yang's shoulder, sending a glance to the blonde. "Merely discussing some historical terms and their modern use."

"Ugh." Sapphire groaned as a grimace crossed her face. "History. Learning. Why do we need these things when we're most likely just gonna be hitting things?"

Mercury snorted. "Because you should at least be able to tell the different Kingdoms apart, Saph." He said as he shook his head.

"I can. One's too cold, one's too hot, one's too windy, and the last is where I live. There ya go."

"You like playing up the dimwit act too much."

"Ooh ooh." Ruby bounced on her feet. "I can help you. I always like going over that. Especially some of the stuff that's not in the books."

Sapphire smiled as she crossed her arms. "Maybe we can trade, kiddo. I've got some stuff I can teach you that might be useful."

Mercury sighed as he brought a hand to his face. "Let's not get crazy here. We still have to get through this."

"Yeah. We should turn in for the night, set up a guard." Yang said. "It's getting dark."

Cinder nodded. "That would be advisa-"

"Good. I'll take first watch." Yang shrugged the hand of her shoulder then set off. Everyone watched as she swiftly moved to the outer perimeter of the campsite before settling herself down.

"... Okay seriously, what did we miss?"

Amber eyes lingered on the blonde before turning to meet red ones. "A lot, it would seem."

* * *

Mercury sat on a rocky outcropping near the camp, watching as the sun began disappearing below the horizon. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.

"You know, if it keep staring at it, you might go blind."

He turned to the voice, shaking his head at who he saw. "That'd be good advice, Hummingbird, if you hadn't done the same thing this morning. Or did you just want to throw my words back at me?"

"Guilty." Ruby said with a smile.

Mercury rolled his eyes before patting the spot next to him. "Come on then." He said. "Take a seat, Rose. It's the last day of this thing. That signal should be coming anytime now. Even the Grimm haven't been any more than a trickle, which is surprising considering how moody your sister has been."

Ruby winced. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Don't be. We got dumped into a survival test with practically nothing. One that's got a lot riding on it. _And_ we have to deal with a new Pill. It's amazing that Xiao Long hasn't fully snapped."

"Well… it might also be helpful if her friend didn't go out of his way to egg her on. You know, pouring fuel on the fire?"

Mercury cocked his head. "I don't follow."

"I believe Ruby is suggesting you be less confrontational with Yang for the foreseeable future."

Mercury and Ruby turned to see Weiss and Sapphire nearing them as the pair trekked up the hill. Mercury frowned as he looked at Weiss.

"I'm not sure what you're on about, Schwartz. She gives, I give back. There's nothing 'confrontational' about tha- hang on. Where did you two come from?"

Sapphire smirked. "Well, when a man and a woman love each other or are very, very drun-"

"Shut it, Saph." He said as he jabbed a finger at her, never taking his eyes off Weiss. "You two were in the camp when I started my watch. Now while Saph there might blend in, you, Miss Black-and-White, kinda stand out against the forest. I'm not so unobservant that I'd miss you. What's the deal?"

The white-haired girl shrugged. "Sapphire had the rather interesting idea to set up a decoy fire in the same spot we had originally intended to camp last night, Mercury. But as Yang is currently… preoccupied, she came to me to see about lighting it. I did bring up the fact that you or one of the others might object if they saw us, but she said she had that covered. It seems to have worked, as you looked directly at us as we passed."

Mercury rubbed at his temple as he stared at a smiling Sapphire. "... You whammi-"

"Oh come on, Sapphire! I know I went over covering a fire with you and Cinder."

Everyone turned to see Ruby on the edge of the outcropping, looking down into the forest. Mercury followed her gaze to find a fire in the ruins, burning brightly in the darkening sky.

"Yeah." He sighed. "That's… that's definitely a fire."

"Don't worry, Ruby." Sapphire chuckled. "It's a decoy. It's meant to be attention-grabbing."

"Yeah, and it's gonna grab attention from people, not Grimm, Saph."

The sound of an explosion drifted up to the quartet. They all glanced at each other before looking back at the ruins, watching as one of the walls collapsed.

"Thaaat wasn't a Grimm."

"You don't know that, Merc. I'm sure there's tons of Grimm that, you know… explode. While rough-housing."

Cinder and Yang came rushing to a stop near the quartet, weapons at the ready.

"What was that?" Cinder asked.

"These two decided it'd be a good to set up a decoy fire in the ruins." Mercury said, jabbing his thumb at Weiss and Sapphire. "Now there's a fight down there."

"Well then, best to go offer our assistance while there's still daylight out and it's manageable."

"Figures you'd say that." He sighed. "Me and Xiao Long on point?"

"If you'd be so kind."

"Sounds good to me." Yang said with a smirk.

"Alright then, everyone, fall out." Mercury said, starting down the hill. The group made their way to the ruins, the occasional explosion peppering the silence. They burst into the ruins to see a lone Ursa and two young men. One turned to the group before snorting at the sight.

"Not so punctual this time, eh?" Cardin said. "Me and Fox got this covere-"

A roar echoed throughout the ruins before a wall buckled, then shattered, bits of stone and mortar exploding out as a large beast emerged through the dust cloud, armoured chest heaving as it pounded its fists on the ground, kicking up dirt and scattering the firewood, putting out the flame. Red, glowing eyes roamed over the gathered people before it slammed a fist into its chest and let out another roar causing everyone to flinch. Fox dropped to his knees clasping his hands over his ears. The beast then lumbered forward, swinging a pendulous fist out.

The Ursa lunged forward, tackling Cardin to the ground and landing on top of him. The swinging fist hit the Ursa, ripping off its top half and spreading it across the forest floor.

"Shit!" Cardin said, wriggling out from under the remains of the Ursa. "Beringel!"

Several shots rang out, bullets ripping into the beast's upper body as it loomed over Cardin, a growl emanating from deep within its chest as it bared its teeth. Two boots slammed into the monster's jaw, snapping it back as the it cried out. Mercury chuckled as he kicked off the creature and flipped to the ground next to Cardin.

"Very observant. Nice to see you handling it so well." He said, helping the mace-wielder up.

The two grunted as they were knocked over by the beast as it charged towards the other group with a howl. Shots peppered it as it neared when Yang sprinted forward, shooting off her weapon behind her to propel herself up before she punched at it. One of the Beringel's fists came up to meet the blonde's. The two strikes collided, forcing the beast's arm back - some fingers on its paw broken - while Yang was knocked to the ground and skid along it, her boots digging small trenches into it.

She let out a yell as she charged at the beast, slamming a fist into its gut before letting off a shot at its face. Bringing crossed arms up, Yang winced as she watched the Beringel's arm slam into her guard before the beast's other arm smashed into her side, propelling her into a wall on the other side of the area that collapsed on top of her.

"Yang!"

The Beringel turned at the shout, advancing toward it before crying out as its knee buckled. It swiped at the area, Cardin dodging the blow before he rammed his mace into the beast's leg again. The Beringel's other knee buckled as Fox sunk a blade into its leg and it howled as Mercury slammed both feet into its face. He kicked off and struck its temple, then spun before crashing his heel into the top of the beast's skull.

As he started falling to the ground, Mercury watched as the Beringel's upper half was engulfed in flames. He landed before quickly striking at its gut while Cardin and Fox continued pummeling its legs. As one of Fox's blade sunk into its leg again the Beringel's paw grabbed him, lifting him up before slamming him into the ground. It lifted Fox up again, letting go as it swung him into Mercury. Both boys cried out as they were flung to the side. The Beringel, flames dying out, turned on Cardin.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

A blonde shooting star rocketed into the Grimm, blasting into its chest and fracturing the bone armor. The Grimm brought both paws up, clasped them together then brought them down on Yang. It struck, crashing Yang into the ground and bouncing her off it.

The Beringel moved quickly, plucking her out of the air and hurling her through the trunk of a nearby tree, which started falling. The beast caught the tree before swinging it down on Cardin. He brought his weapon to bear, watching as an angled glyph appeared, deflecting the tree to the side. He then saw a trail of ice on the ground moving toward the beast. As it reached, giant ice shards jutted up, encasing its legs.

"I wouldn't stare too long."

Cardin's head snapped toward the voice, seeing Weiss at the beginning of the ice trail, her rapier stabbed into the ground.

"It won't be trapped forever." She said as she yanked her weapon free. Cardin nodded as he ran to the others.

"I hate to say it, but hitting it hard isn't working." Cardin said. "What's the plan?"

"Run for it." Mercury said as he walked up holding his ribs.

Cardin nodded. "Sounds good."

"Wait wait wait. The river. We need to get to the river." Sapphire said.

Mercury turned to stare at her. "You actually got something, Saph?"

Sapphire glanced around. "Yeah. Look, even if I'm wrong we'll have better options of getting away at the river."

A loud cracking sound and a roar caused Mercury to wince. "Fine. Better than nothing. Rose, grab your sister. Schwartz, mind being rearguard just in case?"

Ruby ran into the woods as Weiss nodded.

Sapphire smiled. "Let's go then. Cinder, I need to talk to ya on the way."

Mercury sighed as the group took off into the woods, followed by loud bellows. He jumped over fallen trunks and wove through the underbrush as crashes started up behind him.

"You're certifiable, Sapphire!"

Grey eyes darted to the side to see Cinder and Sapphire running close together.

"I'm waiting to hear a better idea." Sapphire said, a hand inside a side-pouch.

"Eyes forward, buddy." Cardin said, clapping Mercury on the back, causing him to stumble a bit. "Don't need gorilla Grimm back there getting anyone because they tripped."

Mercury grunted as he regained his footing, briefly glancing back at the sounds behind him. The glimpse of angled glyphs and pulped trees spurred him on through the final part of the woods. The group broke through the tree line, coming out near a riverbank.

"On the other side." Sapphire said, waving wildly. "Now now now now."

"We don't know how deep it is." Weiss said from the back.

Yang chuckled. "I think we're about to find out, princess."

The group began to wade into the river, reaching the middle as the Beringel smashed through to the riverbank.

"Now's a great time for that plan, Saph."

"Not yet."

The beast thumped the ground with its fists before surging forward into the water.

"Do it now! It's in the water!" Sapphire cried, turning to Cinder.

"So are we!" Cinder flung her hand around as she neared the other side of the river.

"I don't think it cares!"

The beast plowed through the waist-high water, gaining on the group. As it neared, two shots rang out followed by Yang, eyes red, ramming a fist into its head. The Beringel's head snapped back as Yang landed on its shoulder, clinging to fur.

"Round three, banana boy!"

Mercury scowled as his feet found purchase on the riverbank. "Xiao Long!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Yang pummeled into the shoulder and head of the Beringel.

"Cinder!" Sapphire said.

Water flung itself out as the young woman shook her head. "Yang is right on top of the target. It's not feasible to- look out!"

Mercury focused back on the Beringel to see its fist closing around Yang before it rammed it under the water, holding it there. His brow furrowed briefly before his eyes widened.

"Oh god, it's drowning her. Do it now!"

"Yang!"

"Stay back, Rose! We don't need more people caught in this… actually maybe we should step ba-"

"Here's hoping we aren't incinerated, Sapphire." Cinder said, drawing back a brightly glowing arrow and loosing it at the Beringel. The arrow struck the creature in the chest, letting out a vicious flash and deafening thunderclap as lightning streaked along the Beringel's body and the water's surface. Everyone convulsed as the smoking body of the Beringel teetered before falling back. A gasping Yang soon resurfaced.

"What was that?!" Cardin asked, twitching as he regained his footing.

"I'd like to know that too." Mercury said. He paused, then ran a hand through his hair before patting it down.

"What that was was an act of immeasurable stupidity." Weiss said as she stepped forward, wringing out the water from her ponytail. "What, exactly, was running through your head to make you use that much Dust at once?"

"It's quite easy." Cinder squared her shoulders, chin set. "I blame Sapphire."

"Traitor."

"It was your plan."

"And?"

"Accept responsibility."

"As much as I loved the save, everyone, I think I could've taken it."

Everyone turned to see Yang leaning on Ruby near the Beringel, waving at the group. Mercury rolled his eyes as a smirked formed on his face.

"You had him on the ropes." He said.

"Course I did. Now can we get out of the river? It's ruined my hair."

A loud bang rent the air, everyone immediately falling into a stance glancing quickly around. Cardin glanced up before letting out a laugh, wrapping an arm around his companion and lifting him up. "Well would you look at that, Foxy. Isn't it beautiful?"

Fox sighed. "What am I pointed at, Cardin?"

Cardin blinked. "Oh yeah. Well, my optically challenged friend, you are currently pointed at a most gloriously shining sign that our skill, strength, and unconquerable spirit saw us through this ordeal."

"He's got a point." Mercury said, pointing to a large hanging light in the night sky. "I think I see the end game. Though who's groaning? That you, Xiao Long? We can take it slow if you're that hurt." He cocked his head at the looks he received.

"Uuuuhh, Mercury?" Ruby said. "Yang isn't groaning."

"She isn't? Well someone in that direction is, Hummingbird, and they sound waterlo… move! We need to move for that light now!"

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "You alright, buddy?"

"That Beringel hasn't started dissolving yet, it's alive!"

A roar blasted from near them as the Beringel clambered to its feet, a hole in its chest leaking dark fluids. It plowed forward through the water, its glowing red eyes pulsing.

"This thing won't stay down." Mercury said. "Start running for the light!"

"We can put it down." Ruby said, glancing back.

" _We_ don't need to. Remember the speech we got before this started?"

"Retreat at the moment is the better option, Ruby." Cinder said.

"Uh Ruby, we need to move."

Ruby's head snapped to look at her sister. "Not you too, Yang! We're training to become Guardians. That means taking out Grimm."

"Not what I meant." She shoved Ruby to the side as the Beringel's fist slammed into her, throwing her into the trees and bouncing off of them. The blonde let out a groan as she hit the ground.

"Yang!" Ruby cried.

"Someone grab Xiao Long. We're getting out of here. Rose! Let's get- what are you doing?" Mercury watched as she got up, unfurling her weapon.

"Me and Crescent Rose here have a dinner date and shishka-Grimm is on the menu." She said as she cocked her weapon.

"We just have to get to where the teachers are."

"Nope."

Mercury watched as the beast's fist came toward Ruby, the young girl disappearing in a burst of petals before it connected. She reappeared at its shoulder, spearing into it with her weapon. She flipped onto its back, her weapon shaft following as it shifted. She pulled the trigger as she landed, the recoil launching her back as the scythe blade gouged out a chunk of the shoulder, the beast howling in response.

Ruby disappeared in another burst of petals, reappearing behind the Beringel, embedding Crescent Rose's point into its spine causing the beast's legs to collapse in a heap. Ruby yanked her weapon before disappearing a third time. She appeared in front of the creature, the tip of Crescent Rose aimed at its neck. Her speed rammed the point deep, the Beringel howling out.

As Ruby started pulling out Crescent Rose, a massive paw came up and engulfed her before plunging below the water.

"Dammit, not again," Mercury scowled. "Sapphire. Give the other vial to Cinder. And let's get out of the blast radius this time-"

A bellow had them look up to see a man with a long braided ponytail standing next to the Beringel's disconnected arm, Ruby floating near both. Mercury's jaw dropped.

"Hold on." Weiss said. "Did that man..."

"I don't understand your overreaction." The man said, hands clasped behind his brown duster. "Compared to some of those injuries, that was but a scratch."

"Heh heh. I'm thinking he did, buttercup." Cardin said as he came back, Yang slung over his shoulder. "That's pretty awesome."

"You can still walk away." The man said. "Well, crawl."

The Beringel snorted, thrusting its lone arm at him. He hopped up, landing on the paw as it passed.

"Stubborn." A smirk crossed the man's face. "Wonderful. You'll be a good lesson in patience. Heh heh heh heh!" He then sprinted up the arm, popping open his wrist blades. When he reached the head he rammed a hand into the creature's eye, burying his arm into it. The beast let out a screech and pitched back into the riverbank, the man yanking his arm - and ichor - out as he jumped back into the river.

"So do we not have to worry about the Beringel anymore?" Fox asked, glancing around.

"You'd be correct, young one. Even now the corpse is dissipating. It does make cleanup quite easy." The man said as he neared the group carrying Ruby, the Beringel behind him rapidly dissolving. "Ah, but I'm being remiss. This one is called Tyrian Callows. My duty is that of chief of medical staff here at Beacon."

"How is Ruby?" Cinder asked.

"She is fine, miss, if a bit overeager. The rose has thorns - quite wicked ones too - but it is still delicate. Let that be a lesson to all of you." Tyrian glanced about, his gold eyes roving over all of them. "There is nothing that cannot be taken out with the right application of force at the right spot. And when you're going up against something that can crush you with overwhelming force? Wait. Draw them out and punish their mistakes. Though sometimes you might find yourselves having to force those openings. But come, children. Time to get to the gathering. Come along now. Two lines, no pushing."

* * *

"My lady! You look radiant!"

Salem shook her head as a small smile came to her face. "Oh Tyrian. Must you?"

A mustached man to her left snorted. "He can't help the urge. He'd have been better born a swine."

"Arthur…" Salem frowned, turning to him.

He inclined his head. "Apologies, ma'am."

"Ahahahahaha! Even in jibes my compatriot compliments me." Tyrian said, making his way through the crowd of students to the plateau before climbing up to join the teachers. "After all, are swine not the most loyal of animals? I've brought the last of the strays, my lady."

"Excellent, Tyrian. Do step back now while I resolve everything."

"Of course." Tyrian gave a short bow before stepping off to the side.

"To everyone here: congratulations." Salem said as she started pacing on the plateau. "You have survived. That is no small feat and is something to be respected and celebrated. After all, I'm sure you've noticed that the group around you is quite a bit smaller than the one that started three days ago?" She paused in her pacing to briefly glance around before continuing. "I hope this necessary horror has driven the point home. We will push you. You can't afford to be the best you _want_ to be. You have to be the best we _force_ you to be.

"There is a harsh martial and physical regiment. A taxing educational package, including sociological politics. And even in your first year, you will shadow police, military, _and_ White Fang operatives on missions. Guardians are an ideal and we will do everything in our power to ensure you can fulfill that. Which is why we are giving you one last chance to walk away." The headmistress stopped in the middle of the plateau, gazing out at the students.

"When we arrive back at Beacon there will be a Helicarrier out front. It will be there for one hour. Anyone who does not wish to continue their education here may get on it with no disgrace. And don't think your time wasted here. You'll be compensated, to be determined later. All still at Beacon? Belong to us. And so, for those who choose the carrier: good luck with your endeavors. To those who stay: enjoy the Carnival tomorrow." Salem smiled as she walked toward a row of Bullheads, the other teachers following.

Mercury looked out over the group of students up at the teachers, shaking his head. "What'd we get ourselves into?"

"Well it ain't gonna be boring." Yang said.

"Whatever, blondie." Cardin said as he moved toward the Bullheads. "This forest is messed up. Grimm that get up from a lightning bolt, a green-eyed Ursa. I need a real bed. You coming, Foxy?"

Fox grunted.

Cardin chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll see if they've got a bunk bed."

* * *

"Well, Glynda, what do you think?" Ozpin sipped his mug before coughing out. He set the mug down, eyeing it with a frown as he sat at an old wooden desk in the darkened room.

"I think your scouts need more fine tuning if all we were going to get was 'students are still attending Beacon'. Frankly, the chance of being exposed was too high. We should have kept them closer to the city." Glynda said from the other side of the desk as she adjusted her glasses.

"We do know that Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long are still alive, as well as Miss Schnee."

Glynda pursed her lips. "I am well aware of your promise to him, however foolish it was."

"Fatherhood is a powerful motivator, Glynda. Besides, protecting Miss Rose is of high priority already, what's a few more?" Ozpin moved his mug away as he drew in some documents.

"Team Dahlia did encounter another of the Initiates during their last mission. A young woman with a bow and arrow, who I believe has a high chance of being partnered with one of Taiyang's daughters."

"Our intelligence on this manner is truly staggering." Glynda took Ozpin's mug and stared at him over the rim of her glasses. "Tea is far healthier for you than coffee, Ozpin. You need every benefit you can get."

"I did not expect such treasonous talk from you." Ozpin shuffled his papers as Glynda rolled her eyes. "For both our sakes I shall graciously ignore it and instead focus on the fact that we currently have no reliable informant inside Vale proper."

"Thus we are doomed as our enemies learn more and we lose more of our position."

"Not quite. I intend to remedy this deficency. After all…"

"The Carnival is coming up. What team do you want to send? Timber? Dahlia? Perhaps someone from Atlas?"

"Timber can't be moved from Mistral yet, sadly, and travel from Atlas is apparently difficult due to the weather, considering how frequently James complains about it. No one would make it in time. As for Dahlia, well. They can be a bit too heavy-handed. We need a gentler touch for this. Send in team Juniper."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Really, Ozpin?"

"Yes, Glynda. Brief them as soon as possible, please. The Carnival is almost ready to start."

She sighed before leaving the room, mug in hand. Ozpin looked over his papers before sighing as well.

* * *

 **Killjoy: So this wraps up Initiation, and thank god it does. This is legitimately the most painful thing to write that I could remember. Next chapter will probably be refreshing to write, especially without the constraints of Initiation.**

 **Terra: Well I can say that Horribrah tore apart the KD fight a few times, which didn't help. Man, Initiation can get flung off a cli- hang on a minute…**

 **Horribrah: If this were a TV show I'd be that director that calls 'cut' when someone didn't move in a way I liked and do a thousand reshoots. Or would I be the studio executive forcing the changes…*thinking...***

 **Monkey #2: This chapter required a lot of extra work, and us betas had to step in when Killjoy collapsed from this. You know, maybe making Initiation 36 times longer than canon wasn't a good idea.**

 **Faust: It's unanimously decided. Initiation: Never again!**

 **Saltykov: Why did this take so long? I blame Killjoy.**


	5. Chapter 5

"This always seems to happen with you, doesn't it?" A wipe accompanied the feminine voice, swiping across a thin cut on Jaune's bicep. He winced. "You've never been the type to try to _avoid_ trouble, have you?"

His eyes swept along the room as he settled in his chair. The table nearby held gauze and a bottle full of alcohol. The girl dripped some alcohol onto the cloth before she turned back to him.

He cracked a smile. "Hey, I'll have you know trouble finds me- ow!" He glared as he pulled his arm back. "Can't you try to be gentle? This stuff burns!"

"No." The girl swiped again, a smile flitting across her face. "This is what you get for never ducking down low enough on obstacle courses."

"Argent, that obstacle course is a five-hundred-foot-long human rights violation. Getting hurt on it is the least of my worries."

"Would explain why it happens so much, wouldn't it?" Argent wadded up the alcohol wipe and chucked it into a waste bin across the room. "Maybe you should take a hint? Of course, it just isn't that simple, is it."

"Come on," Jaune looked up at the blonde girl standing above him. "Don't be like that! It's not my fault that people always aim for my head."

Argent stared at him. "You honestly think that?" She laughed.

"What?" Jaune turned in his seat. "It's not my fault!"

"I'm just staying," Blue eyes twinkled. "If you didn't have a massive target on your head, people wouldn't aim for it."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "You sound like Ren."

"That's because Ren knows what a decent hat is." Argent gathered the supplies on the table, then walked to the other side of the room and opened up a cabinet, putting them away. "The monstrosity you wear is not a decent hat, and whoever got it for you must be evil."

"You are the worst sister ever."

She smiled. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, buddy."

"You got me the hat in the first place." Jaune rolled his eyes.

"You catch on slow, don't you?" Her smile widened. "Besides, you're the one who always gets yourself beaten up. Why do you always resort to roughhousing?"

"Why don't I have a qualified doctor wrapping my arm?" Jaune shot a grin at his sister. "Pretty sure we're both out of luck."

Argent smirked. "That's a shame." She grabbed the roll of gauze from the table. "Looks like we're both set to be disappointed."

Jaune laughed. His eyes turned towards the window and he stared at the shack next to theirs, illuminated by dim lamps. "Yeah, wouldn't be the first time." He winced as Argent tightened the gauze around his arm.

"It wouldn't." She sighed.

Jaune turned towards his sister. "Hey, are you ok-"

"Look," Argent's eyes met his own from behind a pair of scratched lenses. "Promise me you'll try to be more careful from here on out."

Jaune snorted. "I'll be fine. I've always been fine."

"No, you haven't." She tightened another wrap. A grimace crossed his face. "I don't want to find out you fell out of a tree and broke your neck or something stupid like that."

"Look, I promise I'll be fine." Jaune flicked her forehead. "Jeez, so sentimental."

"Shut up."

Jaune grinned. "So rude. You need to work on your bedside manner-" A loud knock came from the door. "Ah, man."

He looked at Argent. She shrugged and called out, "Come in!"

"Jaune," The door opened. A boy with dark hair stepped into the doorway.

"Ren?" Jaune frowned. "What is it?"

"Pyrrha sent me." Ren looked at Argent. "Sorry to intrude, but I have to steal your brother."

"Already?" Jaune groaned. He glanced sidelong at Argent and sighed. "Fine, I'll be right there."

"Hey," Argent smacked him on the shoulder. "We can hang once you get back. You've got important work to do, so don't let me distract you."

"You're never a distraction." Jaune braced his hands on his knees and stood. He stepped towards Ren and stopped. Turning back with a smile, he said, "I promise I'll write."

She snorted. "Of course you would."

"I will!"

"Just get your work done and get back soon." Argent adjusted the pair of glasses resting on her face. "I have to work on getting a few manuscripts done sometime soon anyways, and you are _never_ good for focus. Ren, please, don't let my idiot brother get his head knocked in again. It'd be nice for him to come back without needing stitches for once."

"I can try, but you know he can be difficult."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"That you tend to do irrational things and get hurt. Let's go, Jaune." Ren clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Nora and Pyrrha are already prepped, and I don't want to make them wait."

"Alright, alright." Jaune said as he shook his head. "I'm coming. I'll write you when we get there, sis!"

As Ren dragged Jaune out of the room, they heard her mutter, "Yeah, yeah." The door shut behind them.

They walked down a short hallway with wood walls and a coarse wooden floor. The planks creaked under the boys' feet as they walked.

"Jaune are you sure we should accept this assignment?" Ren pushed open a door at the end of the hall and held it for Jaune. "It might be better if Sun's team were to take this. Considering what would happen if you were found-"

"We'll cross that bridge when the time comes. Besides, it's not like staying busy is bad." Jaune stared forward with a small smile. "It helps us make all this mean something, after all."

They stepped out into a long cavern, with small houses and shacks lining the walls stretching in either direction. Oil lamps lined the sides of a makeshift avenue, and small crystals of Dust littered the walls. Across from them was an opening in the rock, lit with torches set in the walls.

"Why are you always so dramatic about things?" Ren shook his head.

"I'm a team leader." Jaune straightened his back. "It is my duty to inspire and lead my subordinates, even at the cost of my own image."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "That explains everything."

Jaune nudged him in the shoulder as they entered a rusted elevator, Ren chuckling. The elevator started ascending slowly, creaking as it was hoisted up. Stone steps lined the walls of the makeshift elevator shaft with unlit torches lining the walls. The elevator shuddered as it came to a stop at the top floor, light shining into the room. The two boys stepped out into a small courtyard.

"So where we headed?" Jaune's eyes scanned the walls of the courtyard as he walked. "Supply run to Mistral? Recruitment in Atlas? Reinforcement in Vacuo?"

"Better. Spying in Vale."

"... Seems like a lotta issues these days are cropping up there."

Ren nodded as he walked along the cracked cobblestone with his leader. "Perhaps. Might be why they'd like someone there."

They approached a guard leaning against a stone wall of the fort next to a wooden gate. He looked over the two boys before setting his gaze on Jaune. "Arc, right?"

"Yep, that's me." The blond said with a wave.

"Nikos and Valkyrie are waiting by the landing platforms." The guard drawled. "You know the way, right?"

Jaune snorted. "Lee, I've been here longer than you have. I know where the landing pads are."

The guard smiled. "Still gotta ask, man. Protocol is protocol. Besides, never know with you."

"Yeah, yeah. Happens _one_ time..." Jaune patted Lee on the shoulder as he walked past, opening the gate. "C'mon, Ren, if we don't hurry up we'll probably get an earful from Nora."

"We'll get one anyway."

"I can dream."

They walked along a small footpath beaten into the dirt outside of the stone keep. It was carved into the side of a hill overlooking the training course. They saw a large man standing at the side as three figures rushed through the gauntlet of razor wire and wooden obstacles. Ren cracked a smile when a trainee's foot got caught on the edge of a platform mid jump, sending them plummeting into the mud.

Jaune followed his gaze and frowned. "That obstacle course is evil."

"You're only saying that because you fail it once a week."

"Ren," Jaune's eyes bored into his friend's. " _Everyone_ fails the course at least once a week. Only, like, five people don't, and one of them built the damn thing."

"It's not my fault I'm more agile than you."

Jaune shook his head as they reached the end of the footpath. Two girls talking near a Bullhead turned towards them. "All of my hate, Ren."

The shorter of the two girls ran towards them as they approached the Bullhead. "Sooooooooo," she chirped. "Why the long face, Jaune?"

"Ren's being smug again." Jaune sighed.

Nora's head cocked to the side as an eyebrow raised. "Really? Well we'll just have to de-smugify him." A smile spread across her face.

"I don't think there's time for that, Nora." Ren said, hands raising in front of him. "The quicker we get on our transport, the quicker we get off before Jaune has an incident."

Nora glanced between the two, eyes narrowed, before nodding. "Renny's got a point, fearless leader. But don't think that means you're off the hook, mister." She said, jabbing a finger at Ren as she sent a brief glare at Jaune. "At some point we need to talk about your smugness."

"Of course, Nora." Ren nodded as the girl moved back toward the Bullhead.

Jaune sighed. "Foiled again."

"Sorry, Jaune." He turned towards the voice, seeing the other girl smiling as she leaned against the Bullhead. "Don't worry though. I've got a few sick-bags this time, just in case."

"Thanks, Pyrrha." Jaune's hand raked through his hair. "Glad to know _someone_ cares about me on this team."

Ren shook his head. "I can't hear you over the sound of the car you tried to push me under, Jaune."

As the others entered the Bullhead, the air vehicle's turbines started up, Jaune cupped his hands around his mouth. "C'mon, Ren, you're like a brother to me! Brothers mess around like that."

"Get in the Bullhead, Jaune."

* * *

"Thank you for your service!"

Blake smiled at the small boy. In his hands was a piece of paper, a messy signature scrawled across the top. The boy grinned and ran off towards a woman standing off away from the table. His horns glinted in the sunlight as he chattered, and the pair walked off.

The next kid in line stepped up to the front with a grin that stretched across his face. Her partner grunted, before plastering a smile on.

"Hello, kid."

"You're Adam Taurus!"

"Yes." Adam's finger tapped on the table. "I am."

"You're a war hero!"

"Yes." The tapping accelerated. "I have been called that in the past."

The kid's smile widened further. "Can I have your autograph?"

"Sure." Adam's finger tapped on the table even faster. "That is what the line is for."

Blake handed Adam a pen and with a grunt he snatched it from her hands. The kid squealed as Adam scribbled on a small piece of paper before handing it over. The kid ran off screaming.

"Mom, look! I got Adam Taurus' signature!"

"Think he'll attract more fans?" Blake smiled.

Adam frowned. "Blake, why are we here?"

"So that people can meet the illustrious Hero of the White Fang, of course!" She arched an eyebrow. "You know how important PR is for the Fang. There's no better place to gain goodwill than a fair sanctioned by Beacon, and no better resource than the so-called hero of the faunus."

"That doesn't change the fact that this is a waste of time." Adam turned to Blake. "There are terrorists in the streets of Glenn. There is a child-soldier strike force that hits dust shops by the week. Our contacts in the underground report that something is stirring up the arms market. And, despite all this, Khan finds the time in the schedule to have me sign autographs?"

Blake shrugged as one of the ears on her head twitched. "Keeps us from working ourselves to death, doesn't it?"

"You know what's at stake here, Blake!" Adam growled, hands clenching. "This isn't just some issue we could brush to the side and ignore. This is real - for everyone - and it's our responsibility to deal with it!"

"And we will," Blake adjusted her uniform. "But we can't do anything without funding. Or support. And we don't get either if our local leader is an antisocial shut-in."

Adam sighed as he signed another faunus child's paper. Blake turned back to the crowds and a silence fell between the two. Fans and citizens crowded the line to the front. Adam's pen ran out of ink as he signed a little girl's balloon and he grabbed another from a bag on the table.

Blake watched as the crowd flowed around the fairgrounds. Students mingled with citizens, bright colors and metallic armor among hoodies and jeans. One blond civilian stood at a tent with an air rifle, popping shots at tin cans on the opposite side of the range. After three shots, all the cans were still standing. Blake shook her head as he slapped a note on the counter, before taking up position again.

A group of six students were walking toward the White Fang booth, chatting with each other as they passed the shooting booth. One of the girls' looked towards Blake and her eyes widened. She turned to her group, said a few words, then walked towards the Fang booth with the others following behind.

As the girl approached, Blake glanced over the group, picking out light armor and sheathed weaponry. The girl who had noticed her stepped around the line and made a beeline for Blake. As the girl got closer, Blake's hand drifted toward her belt before resting near her pistol. Her eyes darted across her target, jumping last to their face where she paused, hand moving away from her weapon.

"Miss... Fall?"

"Sergeant Belladonna. So I wasn't mistaken?" Cinder Fall smiled as she came to a stop across the table from Blake, her group behind her. "A pleasure seeing you here. What exactly are you doing at an event such as this?"

"Public outreach is a very important part of an organization such as ours." Blake looked around at the students in front of her. "So how did Beacon's Initiation go?"

"Please don't ask." A silver haired boy's eye twitched. "Ain't exactly something we want to think about."

Blake winced. "Yes, Beacon doesn't cut corners in their training programs. At least you all came out okay."

"Indeed." Cinder nodded her head. "Though that's neither here nor there. How has the investigation been going?"

Adam's pen snapped, the people in front of the table flinching at the sound. He shook his hand, ink falling to ground, and grabbed another pen before going back to signing.

"Well," Blake shifted from one foot to another. "Let's just say that those robbers have been a nuisance for a long time."

"Ah."

"Yes, they are smart. Evasive too, so they don't leave a lot of clues, and get their jobs done fast. Some of the biggest issues we've had in Vale as of late."

"Cinder, what are you two talking about?" A girl in a red cloak put a hand on Cinder's shoulder. "And how exactly did you meet a member of the White Fang?"

"Before Beacon, I had an encounter of sorts at a Dust shop in Vale. Several robbers made off with a decent amount of Dust, but I confronted them."

"Woooow." The girl said, a wide grin on her face. "Already kicking butt before before Initiation? Awesome!"

"My thanks for the vote of confidence, Ruby." A smile flit across Cinder's face before she frowned. "But I must say that despite my best efforts, the thieves managed to escape."

"We arrived shortly after that, and Miss Fall was able to give us the details of her encounter." Blake frowned. "But that's really all that I can say on the case while it's ongoing."

A scroll rang from the table. Adam set down his pen and raised his hand at the line. He grabbed the scroll from the table and raised it to his ear.

"So I never got your names."

"Ah!" Cinder coughed. "My apologies. That was rude of me. The girl in the red is my companion, Ruby, and the blonde girl is her sister, Yang. The white-haired one is Weiss, and the two in the back are Mercury and Sapphire."

"Yo." Mercury waved.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "You talk to a member of an elite law enforcement organization and all you can say is 'Yo'?"

"This isn't exactly the first time I've met a member of the Fang, Saph." He shrugged. "I've been on crime scenes with dad before, and it's not like these guys are never around for the messier ones."

A chair scraped against the ground before Adam clapped Blake on the shoulder. "Blake, we have to move."

She tensed and turned to him. "What happened?"

"Dispatch radioed in. There's been a hit downtown." His lip curled. "We're packing up to investigate."

"Dammit!" Blake grit her teeth. "Sorry, Miss Fall, but we're going to have to cut this meeting short. Duty calls."

Blake walked past the six and addressed the line. "I'm sorry, but we are going to be having to wrap things up sooner than expected. Please disperse from the table, and we apologize for the inconvenience."

* * *

Cinder sighed as she watched the two White Fang operatives quickly walk away. "Well that was a delightful diversion. Does anybody see anything they might be interested in?"

"So that was unexpected." Yang smacked Cinder on the shoulder. "Seems like 'Miss Fall' has friends in high places."

"Yang, please." Mercury flicked her in the forehead. "She's not the only one. But then, I've got friends everywhere. I'm connected."

"Calling in your dad's friends doesn't count."

He laughed. "C'mon, I've got a winning personality."

"No, Merc." Sapphire smacked his shoulder. "You suck."

"So cruel." He sighed. "All of you are just so cruel."

"Hey, Cinder." Ruby leaned from one foot to the other. "Can we stop at that rifle stand? I think I could get us one of the top prizes."

"Why not?" Cinder smiled at Ruby. "If you think you could beat the scam, then you should take your best shot at it."

A blond boy was taking shots at the targets with a look of frustration on his face. Three shots rang out and Ruby looked over the counter. All the cups were still standing.

"Y'know, I think this gun is just bad." The boy leaned against the counter with a huff. "Can I try another one, or is this the only one you've got?"

"Kid," the owner rubbed his nose. "This isn't even funny anymore. Don't waste all of your money on something you suck at."

The boy slapped another lien card on the counter. "Just one more shot, man." The owner groaned but took the card. The boy took up position again, and fired. The first shot hit the bottom cup, the second skittered off the top of the middle cup, and the third pushed the top cup back an inch, where it hung off of the pyramid.

"Oh, come on!"

"Jaune, just give it up." A pink eyed boy patted his shoulder. "You're not going to hit it. We all know this by now."

"Fine." Jaune stared at the gun. He sighed. "But we all know it was the gun, not my aim."

"Whatever makes the pain sting less."

The blond groaned.

Ruby stepped up to the counter. She smiled and looked back at where her friends stood behind the line to the booth. Yang grinned at her before Ruby turned back to the owner of the booth. She pulled a lien card out of her pocket and handed it to the owner. "Excuse me, sir. Three shots, please."

The owner passed the girl the plastic gun. "Knock one cup down and get something from the wall. Knock 'em all down, get something from the top."

"Okay!" Ruby looked down the sights of the rifle, taking aim at the cups. Jaune shook his head.

Three shots rang out.

And Ruby smiled as all three cups fell to the floor.

The magenta eyed boy laughed and Jaune punched him. He laughed harder. The owner of the stand took down a giant stuffed snake, and Ruby wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled at the blond boy.

"Nice shooting. Definitely better than mine, anyways." He sighed. "I can't believe I got beat out by someone on their first try."

"Sorry," Ruby laughed. "I'm guess I'm just a pretty good shot."

He chuckled as he nodded. "Yeah, I guess you are. I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." She smiled. "Are you guys new initiates for Beacon, too?"

"I doubt Jaune would be able to pass any type of combat training class."

"Buzz off, Ren!" Jaune pinched his nose. "No, we're just here for the carnival. It's always nice when one comes through town, especially one with free admission."

"Our friend Nora also wanted to try her hand at the high striker." Ren smiled. "Unfortunately, it was a scam. She ended up breaking the hammer's handle before the puck hit the top of the tower."

"Wait, she did?" Ruby giggled and turned to her friends. "Yang, Mercury, looks like someone beat you to destroying the carnival!"

Mercury rolled his eyes while Yang shook her head with a sigh, running a hand through her hair.

Jaune snorted. "Yeah, she's a bit too strong for her own good sometimes."

"Or ours." Ren shivered. "But that's more 'usually' than 'sometimes'. "

"The point is," Jaune waved his hands. "Half the events here are either scams, or just designed for people a hundred times stronger, faster, or more skilled than the average guy from the city."

"Hey, I'm sure there's something around here that you're good at! Like, I did well here because I'm a really good shot." Ruby said while making a gun with her fingers. "If you can find something that you're already good at, then you can easily win."

He shrugged. "I don't see any guitar competitions around here, and DDR is more Ren's thing anyways." He sighed. "Kinda sucks, but what can you do."

Yang walked over to Ruby. "Nice shooting, sis!"

"It was nothing. The only difficult part was how light the BBs were, really."

"Humble, too. No wonder you got into Beacon two years early."

"Yaaang!"

The two boys looked at each other.

"Two years early?" Ren whistled. "That is quite an impressive feat, especially after the academies adopted that policy of admitting adults _and_ graduates of the prep schools." He smiled at Ruby. "You must be quite the talented student to have gained the attention of an institution as prestigious as Beacon."

"Uhhh…"

"What my long-winded friend is _trying_ to say is that you must be pretty strong if you were able to get into Beacon early." Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "I used to want to go to Beacon when I was a kid, but my parents didn't want me to go. Eventually, I guess I just saw that it wasn't really realistic."

"I'd ask why it isn't realistic, but I think your shooting answered that for me, Sniper."

"Oh, buzz off, Blondie."

Yang's grin widened. "Calling me Blondie, Blondie?"

Jaune shrugged. "Couldn't think of a nickname off the top of my head. Sue me."

"So, Sniper." She laughed. as he suppressed a groan. "You said that your buddy was pretty strong, right?"

"I think I did, yeah."

"Think she'd be up for a little contest of strength?" Yang held up a hand as he grimaced. "Just some arm wrestling, nothing special. I haven't had anyone strong enough for me not to completely trounce them in days, and I don't want to get rusty."

"Rusty." Jaune raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to get rusty… at arm wrestling."

"Pretty much, yeah."

He laughed. "Well, if nothing else, Nora might appreciate your attitude. C'mon, Ren and I are meeting the girls for lunch in a few minutes. If you all want to come with us, we'll have a meal and entertainment, for the price of one! You in?"

Mercury shrugged. "I'm starting to get hungry, and it's not like I've got anything better to do." He smirked. "Especially when I get to see Xiao Long get her ass kicked by someone who isn't me."

"Mercury, as soon as combat classes start, you are dead. Red eyes, you should probably get a nice coffin ready. The funeral isn't going to be open casket."

"Big words, from such a small fighter."

"Oh, you wanna do this now?"

Sapphire smacked Mercury in the back of the head. "If you wreck this carnival and get us suspended before school even starts, I'll help her kill you."

"Noted."

"Having a meal is a grand idea." Cinder turned to Weiss. "Do you have any issues with going to lunch now?"

Weiss rubbed her forehead. "No, I don't. I had an early breakfast."

Jaune clapped, a grin spread across his face. "Super! The food court's this way."

They walked through the crowded alleys of the carnival. Laughter and shouts filled the air, the noises echoing throughout the grounds. Scowling customers yelled at vendors and children bought cotton candy. Cinder glanced at a small booth lined with toy swords. There was a line of children that ran out into the avenue as the group walked around it towards the center of the fair grounds.

A stage standing five feet off the ground dominated the scene. Chairs were set up on three sides of the stage, the fourth housing the Beacon faculty in formal attire. As the teenagers moved away from the stage, Cinder spared a glance at the teachers. She saw one, an older man, narrow his eyes in her direction for a second. Then she turned the corner and lost sight of him.

Weiss glanced behind her, before slowing down. She lagged behind the rest of the group, walking alongside Cinder. "Cinder, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Cinder shook her head. "It seems as if I'm seeing things. I'm merely hungry, that's all."

The pair walked in silence the rest of the way to the food court. When they arrived, two redheaded girls, one more crimson haired than the other, sat at a table chatting. Jaune walked up to the pair and tapped the shorter of the two on the shoulder. "Hey Nora, you uhh… have a challenger."

"Oh?" Nora's blue eyes widened as she turned in her chair. They jumped from Weiss, to Ruby, to Cinder, before landing on Yang. She grinned. "Ah, so someone's looking for a challenge."

"Just some easy pickings to pass the time." Yang pulled a chair from another table and sat down across from Nora. "Jaune here said that you broke a hammer's handle just from swinging it into a target too hard, but looking at you now, I'm not sure I buy it."

"Well, it was an older hammer." Nora said, scratching at her cheek. "The stall owner was still impressed though, but if you're too chicken I understand-"

"I didn't say we weren't gonna rumble. You're about to get your ass kicked. Name's Yang. Nice to beat ya." She set her arm on the table, hand at the ready.

Nora smiled. "You're pretty confident. Let's go." She clasped Yang's hand, setting her elbow down.

Yang smirked.

At the count of three the two girls pushed. The muscles in their arms tensed and their smiles became strained. Their arms shook as Nora's slowly headed toward the table.

"Well." Nora grunted. "Guess there's a reason I never tried to be a Guardian."

"Don't sell yourself short, you've lasted longer than Mercury usually does."

A ringing sound blared and Yang blinked as her arm stilled. Nora grunted before their clasped hands quickly swung onto the table, Yang's face-down.

"Woo." Nora smiled as she brought her arm back, pumping it into the air. "That was a bit of a rush. Sorry about the cheap shot though."

Yang shrugged. "Hey, I got distracted, you leapt on it. No big. I've gotta take this call though, it's important."

"Hey, no worries. Go take your call." Nora smirked. "Next time, fair and square though."

"Sounds good." Yang walked away from the table as she answered her scroll. "Hey Raven…"

Ruby audibly sighed, her eyes downcast, before quickly shaking her head and smiling back at the others. "So, what are we gonna eat? I'm up for ordering for everyone."

"Me and Saph will take burgers." Mercury said. He pushed a table up to Nora's and sat down.

Weiss looked at the menu before shaking her head. "A salad will be fine."

"I'll have chicken tenders." Jaune sat beside Pyrrha. "Extra fries."

Pyrrha looked at the menu and shrugged. "I'll have what Jaune ordered."

"And you, Cinder?" Ruby asked.

"I'll come with you. This is going to be a lot of food for one person to carry." Cinder smiled.

The two walked up to the line. Ruby shifted her weight as they waited, a slight frown on her face.

"I take it the person Yang is on her scroll with isn't someone you particularly like?" The young woman said as she met her companion's eyes.

"Something like that." A frown grew on Ruby's face. "You noticed?"

Cinder chuckled. "You aren't always the most subtle of individuals, my friend."

"... I just realized we forgot to ask what everyone wanted to drink."

"That could be an issue..."

* * *

"So…" Pyrrha frowned. "You detonated an entire vial of high quality Dust on the Beringal."

Sapphire shrugged. "Yeah."

"A vials worth of lightning," Jaune stifled a laugh, "While you guys were in the water."

Yang winced. "Yeah…"

"And, after all of that, it still didn't die?" Ren's eyebrows hiked up his forehead.

"No, no it did not."

Nora laughed. "What are they teaching you at that school?"

"That isn't even the curriculum. This is just part of getting into the school." Mercury took a long drink from his soda. "This is going to be both the best and worst year ever."

Ren smiled. "And I thought applying for college was irritating."

"Yeah, well, if my school's idea of an interview is to get thrown headfirst into a forest full of the bane of humanity for three days, I'm just gonna cancel my application." Jaune snorted. "Yeah, not gonna kill myself for the sake of prestige."

Cinder chuckled. "We also had to attend an interview to get into Beacon. And that day, I filled out enough paperwork that my hand was sore."

"And we get to learn how to be heroes!" Ruby grinned. "We get to learn how to kill Grimm, fight crime, keep people safe, and we get to learn about it from the best Guardians in Vale! That's worth all the paperwork in the world."

Pyrrha smiled. "I really like your enthusiasm, Ruby, but I don't think you understand quite how much paperwork there really is in the world."

"She's right, you know."

"Weiss, don't betray me now!" Ruby pointed a finger at her. "We need to present a united front."

"Too late." Nora smirked. "We've sensed your weakness. Prepare to have the divisions in your factions leveraged to our own advantage."

"And here I thought I came to this school to get _away_ from politics," Mercury muttered.

Weiss snorted. "Once you've experienced it, you'll _never_ get away from politics."

"I'll drink to that. Even if it's soda."

"Attention, Beacon Initiates! You are to report to the stage in the center of the fairgrounds immediately. The final Initiation ceremony will begin in fifteen minutes."

"Well I suppose that brings the fun to an end, doesn't it." Pyrrha said with a shake of her head at the sound of the announcement.

"I'm afraid so." Cinder said. "We can't afford to be late to that."

"Well hey, let's at least exchange numbers. I still need to set up a proper rematch with Yang over there. Plus it'd be nice to actually be able to complain with someone over paperwork. Unlike some people." Nora said as she glanced at Ren, who shrugged.

"You bring it on yourself by leaving it all to the last minute, Nora."

Yang snickered. "I'm down for it. Be nice to have some people in Vale we could hang with on the weekends."

"I suppose so, if there are no objections." Cinder said. "But we'd best be quick about it."

After a quick exchange of numbers, the six initiates made their way to the stage in silence. The crowd flowed towards the stage, and muted chatter filled the air.

When they arrived, they were directed to a tent next to the stage. Rows of seats facing the stage had name cards on them and most were filled. The six sat towards the back of the tent in silence. The air in the tent was thick and humid. Some initiates sat on the edges of their seats, tapping their foot on the floor or fiddling with their weapons.

The buzz of the crowd outside died down to a hush as the Beacon staff lined up at the back of the stage, standing tall with neutral expressions.

The tap of heels echoed on the stage as Headmistress Salem marched across the stage. She stopped front and center, standing before a microphone stand. She tapped the microphone, the 'thud' of the tap permeating through the air.

She smiled and spoke. "Today, we hold this celebration in honor of the men and women who have devoted their lives to the protection of our civilization. The Beacon Initiation Carnival has been arranged in remembrance of those who have died, and those who live, to protect our society from the threats of our enemies. In this year's Initiation to Beacon, more initiates died than anyone could be comfortable with." The audience stilled. "These fallen initiates were well on their way to becoming heroes that we can be proud of, candles snuffed out well before their time. And for this, our sorrow runs deep.

"But this does not mean that we should focus solely on the sorrows and losses of this year's Initiation. The intense conditions push our prospective students to their limits and beyond. They allow these students to truly flourish in combat. And they allow our faculty to analyze their skills and abilities, and give them an education that will allow every student to unlock their potential.

"In the old days of Beacon, the students were divided into teams of four. Our Guardians, however, must be much more flexible in terms of organization. They have many jobs to fill, and must be prepared to fulfill any of them. This is why we have adopted a partner system, with each partner filling in the weaknesses of the other, and complimenting each other in order to become the strongest they can.

"For our first partnership, Fox Alistair and Cardin Winchester."

Two boys in the front row looked at each other and stood. They walked to the stage, shaking hands with each member of the faculty. They worked their way down the line, before stopping next to Salem. She shook each of their hands. "Congratulations. You have persevered up until this point. Do not grow lax."

The boys sat down with smiles on their faces.

"Next, Russel Thrush and Sky Lark."

Cinder watched as the initiates departed from the tent in pairs to the stage. Two by two, the pairs walked up the stage, coming back to the tent with smiles. She pressed her lips together.

An elbow dug into her ribs. She turned to Ruby, the younger girl smiling.

Cinder sighed, but the corners of her mouth quirked upwards.

"Mercury Black and Yang Xiao Long." Mercury turned to Sapphire, eyes wide as Sapphire clamped a hand over her mouth with chuckles escaping. The young man let his head hang as he got up and started walking toward the stairs.

Yang leaned over to Cinder. "Well. This'll be a fun time." The blonde quickly joined her partner at the stairs, going up and greeting the faculty. They then came back down the stairs and retook their seats.

"Sapphire Sustrai and Weiss Schwartz." Weiss nodded, before tugging on Sapphire's shirt. The two ascended the stairs towards the stage.

Ruby's smile grew.

"Ruby Rose and Cinder Fall."

Cinder rose to her feet with Ruby standing alongside her and they walked up to the stage. They each shook the hands of the professors before the two approached Salem.

"Congratulations, students." Salem smiled. "I have kept an eye on you two, and I see much potential. Do not disappoint me."

Cinder locked eyes with the headmistress, slowly nodding. "We will not let you down."

* * *

 **Killjoy: Consider this that Christmas gift your friend says he got you, but also says got lost in the mail. With this, Initiation is officially over, and Beacon is now in session. Let's see what the new Headmistress of Beacon has in mind for this coming school year.**

 **Terra: We were going to put this out on Boxing Day, but Yang and Merc broke everything.**

 **Saltykov: I changed "he is" to "he's," so I'm technically still a part of this. Also: Hahahahahahahaha. Hahaha. Ha ha haha ha. Ha. Okay I'm done.**

 _ ***smugness intensifies***_

 **We totally made the White Fang in this fic legit badasses!**

 **Faust: There was a pun involving shipping and Boxing day but we used FedEx so it's late. The pairs have been set, the carnival was rigged and school days are up ahead. Will our heroes survive Beacon?**

 **Monkey #2: By the way, 'Boxing Day' should totally be the codename of the Yang-Merc duo.**

 **Horribrah: I noticed some things here that needed fixing and overall that delayed it as well.**


	6. Chapter 6

The dorm rooms at Beacon were not overly spacious, with the beds pushed up against the wall on either side of the room and a desk next to each. On the opposite side of the beds were two small bookcases, and a window at the end. The door to the bathroom was on the right wall past the beds, and two closets were on the left. The walls were white, glowing in a white LED light.

A steaming cup of coffee sat on each desk. Cinder and Ruby sat on their beds, bleary-eyed. The morning sun shined through the window onto the floor between them.

Ruby yawned and reached for her coffee and a pill that sat on the napkin beside it. She took a sip, swallowed the pill, and then asked. "So Cinder. We have the same schedule, right?"

The other girl nodded. "Yes, we do. It is probably to help strengthen the bonds in partnerships."

"Like teambuilding?"

"Precisely." Cinder said, picking up her coffee. "Our first class is history, with Professor Winchester."

"Oh, we have Winchester first?" Ruby smiled. "Yang told me that she has him first, too. It'll be nice having a class with people we know in it."

Cinder nodded as she took a sip.

"Indeed. After that I believe we have social studies with Doctor Watts, followed by lunch, ending the day on tactics with Professor Rainart. I've heard good things about both of them."

"Well, it _is_ Beacon." Ruby laughed. "Of course we have the best of the best."

They both sipped their coffee. Ruby gulped. "Hey, Cinder, when does history start?"

Cinder turned to her desk, grabbing a piece of paper and reading it. "Classes begin at eight. Right now, it's seven fifteen so we still have some time."

"Alright."

Cinder stood and walked over to her desk. She pocketed her scroll and dropped a heavy textbook into a backpack. Ruby fidgeted in her seat.

"Hey, Cinder?" She asked. "What's your favorite subject?"

Cinder paused. "I prefer to maintain broader interests, rather than specialize in a single area of expertise." She smiled lightly. "But I will say I've found a certain enjoyment in social studies."

Ruby grinned. "I really really like history. My parents were huntsmen before Ozpin got the boot. They went to Beacon. It's part of why I wanted to come here, actually."

"You wish to follow in your parents' footsteps?"

"Kinda." Ruby shrugged. "Things are different now but I still want to do the kinds of things they did: saving people, protecting the kingdoms and settlements from Grimm, stopping terrorists and criminals."

Cinder nodded. "I understand. The actions of the huntsmen before, and the Guardians now, served to inspire me. I imagine having such heroes in your family only spurs you further."

"Something like that." Ruby sighed. "Mom was a hero, in more ways than one. Dad is just as good as she was. Just... in a different way. I want to be like that, saving people and making the world better, but in my own way." She let out a short chuckle as she scratched her cheek. "I guess it's kinda dumb."

"No, it's not." Cinder combed a stray hair back. "I can't say that I understand your motivation well, but I've felt something similar in the past. In spite of your reservations, it is not foolish, not really."

"You really think so?"

Cinder smiled. "Now, why would I lie?"

An alarm clock sitting on Cinder's desk rang.

"You have two alarms in the morning?" Ruby giggled.

Cinder frowned. "I have to be able to get places on time, don't I?" She picked up the clock and turned it off. "Seven twenty-five. If we head out now, we can get breakfast before classes begin."

"Sounds good." Ruby yawned as she pulled a small backpack on. "Maybe a bit more coffee while we're at it."

Cinder shook her head as she grabbed her bag.

They left the room, taking a left down the hall from the dorms towards the stairs, and made their way outside. The sky was clear and the air was crisp and cool. A wide avenue stretched towards Beacon Tower lay to their far right and the entrance to the dorm rooms was situated on a cobbled walkway that wrapped around the building, disappearing out of sight.

On the opposite side of the avenue was a long building built like a church. Heavy doors were swung open, revealing rows and rows of tables inside. The two girls made their way towards the entrance, along with other students caught in the daze of the early morning.

They grabbed a meal of eggs and toast and ate quickly. Cinder's knife flew across her plate, cutting her food into small portions, while Ruby's fork was a whirlwind, shovelling eggs into her mouth. Not a crumb survived.

Ruby checked the time on her scroll. Seven forty-five. "Cinder, the lecture hall isn't close, is it?"

Cinder finished chewing. "It isn't far, but not close either. It's further down the avenue, closer to the Tower and the CCT." Cinder paused to finish the last of her eggs.

"Fifteen minutes is enough time to get there in time, right?"

Cinder nodded. "Easily." Placing their dishes on their trays, they walked to the exit, leaving their trays on a rack by the door. As they stepped outside the cafeteria, Cinder fished into her pocket. "Gum?"

Ruby smiled and took it.

They headed out of the dining hall and walked down the avenue. More students were milling around the grounds, carrying bags and weapons to their classes. A pair of upperclassmen in combat uniforms hurried past the crowd towards the cliffs, where a Bullhead awaited them.

Cinder and Ruby walked down the avenue towards the tall buildings close to the base of Beacon Tower. They dominated the sky, connected by flying buttresses and walkways, with arching roofs. The two buildings sat on either side of the tower, and a plaza separated the buildings from the Tower's threshold. Gardens divided the buildings from the rest of the campus, with freshly trimmed grass and pristine bushes trimmed into the forms of Guardians.

They entered the lecture hall. It was arranged like a theater, with six rows of seats that led down to an open walkway. Between the walkway and the front of the room was a small divider, three feet high. Maps with dates on them lined the back wall of the classroom. Dots and lines tracing between significant settlements and cities. And at a desk at the front of the room sat Professor Winchester, his red-brown hair speckled with grey streaks. A long and heavy mace leaning against the side of the desk.

Cinder scanned the room and spotted Sapphire, Mercury, Weiss, and Yang sitting near the front. She tapped Ruby on the shoulder. The girl glanced from the mace to her partner, before following Cinder's sight to the group sitting towards the front. The two made their way down the middle set of stairs and sat next to Yang.

"How did you guys get here before us?" Ruby whispered to her sister. "We didn't see you in the dining hall for breakfast."

Mercury stifled a snort. "Breakfast?"

"It is the most important meal of the day." Cinder pulled a notebook out of her bag and set it on the table in front of her.

Sapphire laughed.

Weiss smacked her in the shoulder. "She's not wrong. You need more than coffee to get you through the day."

"No, you don't." Yang took a sip from her mug.

Mercury shook his head. "Leave it to Xiao Long to promote addiction to substances. I thought you'd gotten better since Signal." He sighed.

She smacked him in the back of the head and he laughed.

Cinder's scroll buzzed on the desk. Eight o'clock. The seats of the lecture hall were almost to capacity.

Professor Winchester straightened the stack of papers on his desk and stood, clearing his throat. He looked around the room, eyes passing over every student. They stopped for a moment on the students near the front, before passing back over the rest of the class.

He spoke. "Thank you all for coming in today. I know, I know, it's very early in the morning." He chuckled. "But you'll have to get used to it. The life of a Guardian is filled with action, excitement, and adventure, but it isn't filled with a lot of time for rest." A student in the back of the room groaned.

The professor ignored him. "And on that note: congratulations on Initiation. There is never a year where the students do badly, or underperform, but this year? I do believe the Emeralds are going to have something to look out for.

"Now, without further ado, welcome to Modern History One. It is of a different focus then the Ancient History Studies of most preparatory academies. Because while the various stories of expanding kingdoms, ever-changing lore, and the triumph of technology are not _unimportant…_ they are not of particular relevance to your immediate future." He paused. "If you, by any chance, are not familiar with ancient history, make sure to study on your own to catch up or see me after class is finished. I do offer remedial classes for those who aren't well versed in ancient history and all they will cost you is time."

Yang elbowed Ruby, who shook her head.

Professor Winchester pulled out his scroll. "What we will be focusing on, however, is contemporary history. The Great War onwards, and we will be examining the causes, faults, and realities of our past, and how we as Guardians can help to work past them in the future." He tapped the screen, and a buzz made its way through the classroom. Cinder checked her scroll. A message from Professor Winchester was displayed across the screen.

"As you can see, I've sent a syllabus to everyone enrolled in this course. We will be studying politics between the Kingdoms from the Great War onward, the Faunus Civil Rights Movement, the birth of the White Fang," The professor paused. "The Siege of Mountain Glenn, and the Revolution. With every event, we will look at cause, significance, context, and possible connections they could have with the others."

The professor glanced down at his scroll, tapping the screen with one hand. He then closed the scroll.

Cinder's scroll buzzed. She opened the scroll to see one new message, from the professor: _See me after class._

"Now, let's get some review done, shall we?"

Professor Winchester wrote down the names of each kingdom on the board, along with basic facts about their cultures, histories, and economics. Cinder's pencil flashed across her notebook, committing the facts to paper the moment they were on the board. Ruby took notes slower, her handwriting a bit sloppy, with doodles in the margins. Yang's were neat sentences, taken haphazardly, almost at random, while Mercury's were neat, minimalistic scribbles. Weiss' page was arranged into four columns. Sapphire's page was almost blank.

Soon enough, the bell rang.

"Attention! Before everyone leaves, the introductory chapters of the textbook are due by our next class. That will be Wednesday, at nine forty-five." Winchester smiled as the students filed out of their seats towards the doors. "Next class, we jump straight into the first unit, so be prepared!"

Cinder turned to her friends. "Listen, I'll have to meet you guys outside. I need to talk to the professor about something first."

"On the first day of class?" Sapphire laughed. "I'd've expected my _partner_ to stick around after for tips and tricks, not you."

Weiss rubbed her forehead. "Oh hush, you. Everything you say reflects on me too, now."

"So people might think you're fun to be around?"

"Hey!"

Mercury sighed. "Yeah, we'll wait up. Just try to get out before these two kill each other or something."

"Don't you start, Merc." Sapphire wagged a finger at him. "Me and Schwartz-"

"Schwartz and I," Weiss said.

"-might give each other shit, but we won't turn the room into a battlefield." She gave Mercury a sidelong glance and nodded at Yang. "Unlike _some_ _people…"_

"I stand corrected." Mercury said, eyes focused on his friend. "Cinder, please hurry up a bit, before I kill Sapphire… or something."

Yang rolled her eyes. "I'm actually on his side here." Yang paused. "Yeah, this feels weird. Has anyone seen any cats and dogs getting along today?"

"First day of class is always weird." Mercury smirked. "Don't worry too much. I'll get the chance to beat you again in Tactics."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know you're all talk and no game."

Ruby giggled.

Cinder rolled her eyes as her friends left the room. She dropped her notebook into her bag, put the pencil in her pocket, and approached the desk.

"Ah, Miss Fall. Congratulations on your successes in Initiation." Winchester smiled. "We'll have the pleasure of training many talented students this year, and you are far from the least among them."

"Thank you, sir."

"Do you know why I had you stay after class, Miss Fall?"

Cinder nodded. "I believe so."

"That makes things a bit easier, then." He sighed. "You understand that this class is designed to teach students the explicit details of every event we cover. I do not like to sugarcoat the details, as that is only a good way to perpetuate ignorance, and it fails to do justice to the truth."

"I agree fully." Cinder smiled. "It does no good to hide details from people prepared to witness the truth."

Winchester smiled. "You seemed to be fine in class today, and I know we won't have to worry about your behavior. Your transcripts point to you being a skilled and focused student, despite the disadvantages you've faced." His smile faded. "And those disadvantages are part of what I would like to talk to you about."

"The Fall."

He nodded. "Yes, the Fall." He looked down for a moment. "I was there, you know. I was one of the first responders, when we were called upon to protect. Which district are you from?"

Cinder clasped her fingers. "I was from the lower district. My parents worked at the edge of town, at one of the Dust quarries in the outskirts."

"I doubt anybody in the world could forget those long months." Winchester grimaced. "During the first year at Beacon, the faculty examines the Seige in detail. Professor Watts studies the social implications of it, Professor Rainart the tactics and mistakes made. My lessons on it are often more broad, but they are still extremely detailed."

Cinder smiled again. "You do not have to worry about anything, sir. I am… no, I will be a Guardian. If I cannot handle simple discussion of an event that occured in my life, then how could I serve?"

Professor Winchester chuckled. "I suppose that is all I need to know then." He shook his head. "If nothing else, you've proven yourself ready for the opportunities and trials at Beacon." He stood, and reached across the table.

"I look forward to your class, Professor." Cinder met his hand, and they shook. His grip was gentle but firm. "I have heard many great things about Beacon's curriculum."

"I'll try to live up to it." He grinned, then added, "And do look out for your partner. Qualified as she may be, I'm of the belief she is too young to face many of the trials that you will be subjected to."

Cinder nodded. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and made her way towards the door. As she was leaving, she heard the professor mutter. "Far too young."

* * *

The stone floor of the combat arena was smooth and shiny. It was wide, the size of a small playing field, with rows of seats sitting directly outside of the combat arena. Small projectors lined the edges of the arena, with heavy cages shielding the lenses. Students filed into the room with their weapons and combat gear. Cardin Winchester grinned, his mace held across his shoulder as he and his partner entered the arena and sat near the front.

Ruby's finger tapped against Crescent Rose as she entered the room, a small grin on her face. Next to her, Cinder kept her weapon in its dual-sword form at her belt. They sat down as people whispered around the room.

"So this is the combat class, right?"

"There's nothing else on the schedule, and we're in here, so yeah."

"When are we gonna fight?"

"Hey," Ruby jabbed Cinder with her elbow. "You think you're going to fight today?"

She shook her head. "It's only the first day. The odds are good that we're just going to go over guidelines and the syllabus, and then be finished."

"Awwww."

"I'm afraid whining won't change the outcome."

Ruby pouted. "I'm not whining."

"My mistake. In that case, incessantly complaining in a very high pitched voice won't change the outcome." Cinder smiled.

"You suck."

Cinder hummed.

Ruby turned away and kicked her feet as she glanced around the arena. Weapons poked out over the tops of seats or were splayed across laps. Guns were dyed a plain gunmetal, handles as simple as the material they were woven from. She glanced at her Crescent Rose, and its bright red coloration.

"Hey Cinder?"

The other girl turned her head towards her.

"Why don't people personalize their weapons?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow, gazing into nowhere before a frown crept across her face. "I imagine not a lot of people see the need for that personalization. Not like you, with that vibrant red paint job."

"They used to. Mom and Dad used to talk about how they grew up and fought, about being huntsman." Ruby's hand touched her gun. "They always said that individuality is a massive piece of what it was to be a huntsman, to be a warrior. Their job was to inspire hope by being the brightest, most attention-grabbing thing in the room. Their bright colors would attract attention, and bystanders would see them and know that help had arrived. You following me?"

" _Are_ you following me, you mean." Cinder chuckled as her partner groaned. "But yes, I am."

" _Anyways,_ " Ruby glared, "The most important tool any fighter has is their weapon. It's… their mark on the battlefield, more than their outfit or their attitude is. The weapon is what everyone sees, and what everyone cares about, because you don't want that guy with a pink hammer to hit you in the face with it. In the heat of the moment, it's the weapon that matters, not the person behind it."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "So the reasoning behind personalizing your weapon was to make your impact on the battlefield truly your own?"

"Something like that." Ruby tapped her foot on the ground and cocked her head to the side. "It's more like… you're there to inspire, to be a hero. You want to let everyone know that they really are safe, to reassure them? And before the Revolution, people tended to value individuality more, cuz the Kingdom of Mantle tried to get rid of all individuality to keep the kingdom safer from Grimm."

"And that, in turn, caused the Great War." Cinder nodded. "But before the Revolution, people were rather extreme about it. Everybody was named after a color from then on, which you can't say isn't pretty rash. When you change one part of society, you can't just swing from one extreme to the next."

"Yeah, I know." Ruby shrugged. "But I still like the idea of having our weapons be an extension of ourselves, y'know? We're heroes, not soldiers. We might as well look the part."

"But that's the thing, Ruby." Cinder finger tapped her finger in the side of her weapon. "Our job is to save people, not to make them feel happy. We have the pill to curb the Grimm."

"And why can't we do both? Just because they won't attract Grimm doesn't mean we should let them be miserable." Ruby sighed. "I get why everything is so… uncaring? It's easier to do this in the long run. But it's like we're forgetting why we do this."

Cinder shook her head. "We aren't all here for the same reason, Ruby. We aren't Huntsmen. We aren't symbols."

The corner of Ruby's mouth quirked up in a half smile, before she turned downcast. "Maybe."

The doors to the combat floor opened. Professor Rainart stepped into the arena, adjusting parts of the suit he was wearing. His hair was combed back and his beard was trimmed. The noise from the students died down as the professor stepped toward the center of the room.

He clasped his hands behind his back and cleared his throat. The rumble echoed across the room. He glanced around the room before his eyes fell on a student in the front seat, focusing on their weapon.

The professor sighed.

"It appears that I'll have to set some ground rules from the beginning." He swept a hard look around the bleachers. "From today on, do not bring your weapons to class unless notified."

Shouts from the bleachers were swiftly silenced as the professor smashed his fist into his open palm, the crack of the impact echoing throughout the room. He glared around the room before dusting off the sleeves of his coat as he took a deep breath. "As I was saying, you do not need your weapons every single time your class meets." His expression softened. "In getting into this school - and specifically your initiation testing - you have proven to the school that you know how to fight. You may also take the initiative to practice on your own or with your partner in your free time."

A small smile grew on Hazel's face. "You have made it this far. Be proud of your skills and achievements." The smile quickly melted off. "But don't let it make you foolish. You are young, inexperienced. And many of you lack something even more important."

He started pacing, eyes roving over the students. "Self control. Wisdom. Knowing when to fight, and how to act in a given situation, rather than merely the most straightforward or efficient way to win a fight while disregarding the possible war." Professor Rainart paused. "And _that_ is what this class shall teach you. Not just how, but when to engage, as well as how to keep proper situational awareness. Not just how to win a fight, but how to do so in a way that does not destroy what you are fighting for."

He pulled a remote out of his pocket and a flicked a button. The lights at the edges of the arena flickered on, projecting a holographic city onto the combat floor. Small buildings lined empty streets. A castle sat on a cliff at the source of a river, which ran down the floor to the center of the projected city. There, another river joined it on its way out to sea.

The professor stepped in front of the projection of Vale.

"This holographic display was developed in part by Professor Watts." Professor Rainart nodded at the projection. "Looks good, right? It can project any terrain we need. We'll use it to simulate battles and skirmishes on a small and large scale, and go over the best courses of action for each."

He pulled out a scroll, tapping at a few buttons. A familiar ping echoed around the room. "I've sent you all the syllabus for this class, though many of the issues we tackle will most likely be impromptu. For a course such as this, flexibility is key. For classes with combat, I will notify all of you three days in advance. Do check your messages."

Professor Rainart glanced around the room. "Before the end of the year, I expect to see improvement in each and every one of your fighting styles." He nodded. "You may be Guardians yet. Class dismissed."

Students filed towards the exits. "Man," Cardin groaned as he passed Ruby's row. "We're going to have to request time in the arena to actually get some practice in, aren't we?" Fox shrugged, and they melted into the crowd at the door.

Ruby looked down at the holographic city of Vale. The buildings in the city were short, with multi-story buildings only inches off the ground. A skyscraper's needle in downtown reached the Professor's shin as he watched the class leave. And at the end of the room, on a holographic cliff, the citadel of Beacon towered over the projected city, its spires reaching higher than first seats in the bleachers.

"Ruby, are you ready?" She blinked, turning towards her partner. Cinder stood in the aisle with her bag hanging from one shoulder. "We've finished classes for the day. We can meet your sister and her partner for dinner, if you want."

"Sorry, I was just looking at the hologram array. It's pretty neat technology! I wonder if it's solid or just a hologram though…" Ruby coughed. "Anyways, yeah. Dinner! Great!"

Cinder shook her head. "Best get you that food so you can properly speak, eh, Ruby?"

"Hehe." She grabbed her backpack and slung it over one shoulder. Standing, she followed Cinder up the stairs. "So Cinder, what do you think of the our classes so far?"

Cinder glanced at Ruby. "Perhaps we should speak softly until the professor has left the room." Ruby reddened. "And so far, they seem alright. Professor Rainart seems passionate about tactics and how we fight. It is interesting."

"Yeah, Tactics seems like it'll be pretty neat. It's a bummer that we'll have to spar on our own time, though." Ruby stepped past Cinder and opened the door. "We'll figure it out."

"Professor Winchester also seems to know what he is talking about." Cinder smiled. "I hope his class is as enjoyable as it has been so far. And thank you."

"No problem!" Ruby grinned. "And we are probably the only people out of our friends who could call a history class 'enjoyable.' "

"Don't forget about Weiss, Ruby."

"Well, yeah." Ruby blew a stray hair out of her eyes. "But it's Weiss. She's probably the most straightlaced student I know. She practically lectured Sapphire about how her actions would reflect on both of them."

"She's not wrong."

"No," Ruby smirked, "But she _is_ strict."

"I doubt she has anything to worry about from Sapphire." Cinder stated. They heard shouting from outside. "I trust her to carry herself with dignity, albeit a little roughly…"

Ruby opened the door to leave the building.

"You think you can talk to people like that?!" The red haired boy snarled. Fox put a hand on his partner's shoulder, but Cardin shrugged it off.

Sapphire glared. "What are you gonna do?" A smirk crossed her face. "Have daddy give me a detention?"

Cardin took a step forward. Fox grabbed his shoulder and turned Cardin to face him. He shook his head.

Cardin ran a hand through his hair. "Why the hell Beacon would let a girl like you onto its grounds, I'll never know." He jabbed a finger at Sapphire. "You'll swallow your words."

He turned and walked off, shoving his hands into his pocket. Fox glanced back at Sapphire, before jogging after his friend.

She let out snort. "Lousy dickhead thinks he's somethin'." She shook her head and turned to see Ruby and Cinder staring from the building. "Hey you two. What's up?"

"What happened here, Sapphire?" Cinder asked as she and Ruby walked up.

"Hey, I didn't do anything." Sapphire eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "The asshat said something stupid, so I called him out. Thinks he's better than me or some shit like that."

"Sapphire," Cinder raised an eyebrow. "I was just telling Ruby about how I believed you would act in a dignified manner here at Beacon." Sapphire raised a finger. "Within reason." She dropped the finger. "Do I have to rescind my statement?"

"Nah." Sapphire shook her head. "I've already told Merc I'd behave 'within reason.' Just don't expect me to get along with the bourgeoisie."

Cinder exhaled. "I suppose that's fair enough."

Sapphire's scroll chimed. "Oh, yeah. Shit, I forgot that I'm meeting Merc, Weiss, and your sister, Ruby, in Vale for dinner." She looked between the two. "You girls wanna come? Merc pulled some strings, so we're eating discounted."

Ruby looked at Cinder. "You wanna?"

"I do believe I want to, Ruby, yes."

Sapphire clapped. "Alright, let's get going then." She waved at them, and walked away from the building towards the ports, the two following.

Ruby stroked her chin as she walked. "Hey Cinder?"

"Hm?"

"Do you like the city of Vale?"

Cinder nodded. "There's something special about it. It's a big city, and even bigger in a power sense. We export more consumer goods than any one kingdom imports."

"So you like it because it's important?"

"Close." Cinder stared out over the cliffs in the distance. Tiny buildings glimmered on the horizon. "Cities used to fall every year in Remnant. Villages in the outskirts would disappear overnight. Yet, even in these desperate times, we could look at the kingdoms and see invincible pillars, monuments to humanity's tenacity. And when revolution came to Vale, it didn't just survive, it thrived in the wake of it. The city feels… indomitable. I like Vale because it feels like no matter the hardships we face, it will survive the night."

 **Saltykov: Usually, it's Horribrah and Terra who go over this thing and hunt down anything majorly wrong with it. Four months later when we remembered this thing existed, nothing had been heard, so Monkey Number Two and I decided to go in and do it our damn selves.**

 **HORRIBRAH: Yeah, I'll admit I'm partially to for the delayed release. Life's been a rollercoaster for me lately.**

 **Killjoy: Took us awhile, but we're finally back! This fic isn't gonna die on our watch, and we have a lot more in store for the future.**

 **Terra: We deeeed it… eventually.**


	7. Chapter 7

Adam walked through the facility with six of his squad. A large, muscular guard walked several feet in front of them. Adam glanced back to see Blake, a small smile on her face.

A smile brushed across his lips before quickly downturning.

They came to a wall covered with bullet holes - some of them inches wide - with the air still rich with the scent of gunpowder and discharged Dust. Adam examined it, poking a finger into one of them as the team cased the halls.

The floor was relatively unscathed though save the strewn about bullet casings and large, flattened chunks of ammunition.

And for all the bullets fired, there was not a drop of blood in sight.

"Never in my life have I found so much evidence so frustrating." He muttered and rubbed his temples.

A gloved hand clapped onto his shoulder and Adam heaved out a sigh.

The guard's posture was rigid as he led them down the bullet-strewn hallway, stepping between flattened bullets and casings. "We used standard issue arms to ward them off. Heavy bullets that break on impact to maximize damage to aura-"

"I know what a thirty calibre softcap does to aura, Sergeant McCoy. And more importantly a person's body." Adam said. "However, there's no blood on the floor. There are no targets in custody. It doesn't matter what bullet you used unless this damage is a result of a lack of discipline."

"Y- yes, sir."

Blake rapped a pen against a clipboard. "You can include the finer details in your report, sergeant. For now, start from the beginning."

McCoy nodded. "It started when Private Greyson failed to report in during his patrol of the outer wall - the one facing the forest. We thought the rookie just missed check in at first, but after ten minutes dispatched two soldiers to find him." Adam narrowed his eyes as McCoy continued, "They went dark as well. At this point we put the facility under high alert.

"They entered from the north then. We do have intel that the Emeralds have a safehouse or something similar in town, so highway records on everybody who left the city since their last hit should be checked."

Adam nodded at a White Fang soldier in the back. "Verde, get on it. A facility outside of the city will have access to the cameras outside of the city and their records. If there's an inconsistency: find it. I want a preliminary report on my desk by the time we arrive at HQ." Corporal Verde nodded once and turned away.

"After that, we put the base in full alert and quarantined the northern perimeter. Those kids were resourceful, though-"

Adam halted. "Did you say kids?"

"I- yeah, they couldn't have been old enough to drink, much less fight." The guard frowned. "Anyways, they managed to avoid the security cameras and head to the roof before slipping around. Hit our guys from the back."

"Hmm. These circumstances seem to match a certain group's usual fighting style, Adam." Blake's pen scratched at the paper on her clipboard. "Guerilla tactics on larger, and presumably, more skilled forces. I can guess that there were no major casualties, Sergeant?"

McCoy nodded. "There were a few minor lacerations, muscle sprains and pulls, a broken leg or two. Worst we have are concussions. But these kids hit hard, fast, and didn't spill any more blood than you'd see in a fistfight on the street."

"Can you describe their weapons?"

"First enemy was a girl with a massive hammer. It's a damn miracle she didn't kill anyone, the size of that thing. Second had a pistol and a knife, the kind lots of people in Mistral have for hunting. Leader had a sword, too." The guard pointed to a window up the hall with a hole the size of a child's thumb in it. "They had someone on overwatch, though. Terrible shot, to be honest, with this casualty count."

Adam shook his head. "No, odds are the sniper didn't miss a single shot. Did they engage in open combat?"

McCoy snorted. "Sounds like you already know the answer, since you know so much about everything."

"Adjust the attitude, sergeant, and answer. This is an investigation." Adam stood tall and drew his shoulders back. "Now I don't know what kind of games you're used to playing with your commanding officers out here, but I'm not some security administrator. What I do know is that if any member of the White Fang were to treat their superiors with this level of blatant disrespect, they'd be facing some heavy reprimanding."

"I-"

Blake cut him off. "Did they engage you and your men directly?"

McCoy grit his teeth and glared at Adam, who only raised an eyebrow. "Only when presented with no other option. They tried to sneak around, play it safe. When we forced them into engagements, they played dirty."

"There is no 'playing dirty' in war, sergeant." Adam said. "But that's neither here nor there. We still need to check on the state of the facility's equipment."

McCoy led them down the hallway to a heavy steel door. A button opened it, but the panel sparked when the door was halfway open.

"Belladonna, how are the other team's making out?"

Blake touched the side of her helmet and paused. "Amitola's team is checking the state of the security devices on the northern wall. Apparently, there's evidence of severe electronic damage to the motion sensors, and the gate is jammed shut."

"Private Lyndon, you studied at Vale University for electrical engineering, right?"

"Yes, sir!"

"See if you could give Amitola's team an assist, find out what's wrong with the walls. Then tell them they need to check up on the rest of the facility's security infrastructure."

McCoy scowled. "That isn't necessary!"

"Your security left an entire section of the perimeter unguarded for ten minutes. During that time, the intruders didn't just disable your security, they fried it. Odds are good they escaped north, and your men were unable to pursue because you couldn't get any trucks out of the facility." Adam turned away from the guard. "Belladonna, Francesco, you're with me. Lead on, McCoy."

Seething, the man pulled the door wider and walked through. Adam followed.

The production facility was clean than the areas outside. Stainless steel vats stood in the center of the room, filled with white powder. Various machines lined the walls, the lights on each dulled.

"The vats in the center of the room contain the active ingredients in the pills in a powdered form. That's the first thing the vandals went after. They poured metal shavings into the vats." McCoy ran a hand through his hair. "Those are simple to remove from the vats, but the ingredients are contaminated. We'll have to manufacture more of the Pill solution in the next few weeks, and it's an expensive process."

Adam frowned.

"Except we can't even do _that!"_ McCoy growled. "The equipment for creating the chemicals is sensitive, and they jolted it with a shock of static electricity. All the components melted into slag."

"Is that all they've done?" Adam asked.

"Unfortunately, no." McCoy pointed to a pile of crushed yellow plastic on the ground. "Those are some of the finished Pills the facility had packaged and ready to be shipped. They crushed them all on the way out."

Blake flickered her pen between two fingers. "They rapidly hamstrung the refining process and gutted the synthesis process. Must've hit another one of our refineries at some point."

"Unless they gained access to the plans to the facility, or the equipment." Adam shook his head. "These four haven't hit anything outside of Vale, and this is the first time a production facility here has been hit in three years."

McCoy rubbed his forehead. "The engineers are gonna need weeks to get this place back in service, but ultimately it's just a setback."

"Don't trivialize this, Sergeant." Adam said quietly. "For the past several years, we've been chasing ghosts attacking private businesses and minor convoys. Now, they've attacked one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the modern world."

"This is a factory in the boonies, sir. There is nothing impressive about them hitting here."

"If a thief breaks into the least secure room in a castle, the entire building is at risk." Adam caught the man's eye. "If someone can strike this facility and get away with it, who's to say they won't hit somewhere more important?"

McCoy huffed out a laugh. "You're paranoid. The media talks about how dangerous the Emeralds are, but everyone in a uniform knows the truth. They're on the decline. They're reeling. They're nobodies who'll only be remembered as another flash-in-pan rebellion."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Says the man who pushed their face into the mud in the first place." The sergeant drummed his fingers against the side of his leg. "I guess you weren't lying when you said you've been chasing ghosts all this time. Some hero."

Adam stared at the man. McCoy cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows.

Adam sighed. "Discipline your men, Sergeant. If you aren't afraid of terrorists, fear the Grimm. With soldiers as lax as yours, I doubt they've even held fast to a duty even children adhere to, and we'd hate to lose any facility that contributes to the public good."

McCoy rolled his eyes.

"Belladonna, we're done here."

* * *

The sun sat low on the horizon when Blake pulled the truck up alongside the security terminal. She rolled down her window, pulled out her ID, and presented it to the camera.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant." A voice called over the microphone. "Find anything useful?"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "If it's anything you need to know, you'll get the memo."

"Always sticking to the rules, huh," the voice crackled. "Little wonder you shot through the ranks. You're all set."

She waited for the spike strip to retract back into the ground and pulled the truck forward into the underground garage. She parked by the loading bay, and the team began piling out.

She turned back in her seat to look into the back seats. "Sir, we've arrived at the HQ."

"So soon?" Adam looked up from his laptop and blinked. "Damn. I got focused on the report."

"Did you find anything new?"

"That depends." He slid his laptop into a bag and picked it up. "All I have are theories and thoughts, and none of them are good."

Blake smiled. "If you need someone to bounce ideas off of…"

"Yes, that would be nice." He hopped out of the back of the truck and Blake stepped out of the front. They walked to the elevator and hit the up button. "Every time we run into one of these cases, it becomes more and more clear how contradictory it is."

"What do you mean?"

Adam grimaced. "Do you remember that group of students in Mistral?"

"Yeah, I think I do." Blake tapped her foot. "The ones who killed those Guardians then went into hiding?"

"They were simple, straightforward. Terrorist rhetoric inspires students to rise up against their supposed oppressors with extreme violence, and they hold nothing back." The elevator doors opened, and the two stepped inside. "It's simple, clean cut. The only trouble is finding and executing them."

"And this case is different." Blake cut in.

Adam nodded. "It's extremely different. If intel is correct, these aren't students. They're… outcasts. They're on the fringe of society. So why would they be so… pacifist? They have nothing to lose and animosity to spare."

"Maybe they just don't feel comfortable about murder." Blake shrugged. "They're still kids. Nobody knows how they'll react to things."

Adam exhaled. "Blake, they're around your age."

"And the circumstances of White Fang operatives tend to be very different from those of street rats."

"Blake, these aren't pre-teens with druggie moms joining up with a gang." Adam's face twisted into a scowl. "These are specially trained child soldiers. They have no reason - none at all - to show any mercy to anyone who steps in their path."

Blake blinked.

"And then there's their aggression. They hit Vale - and only Vale, and always in ways that inconveniences Guardians, Guardian students, and the Fang. All the while their compatriots are blowing up bridges and sinking ships." Adam shook his head. "It doesn't add up."

Blake blinked hard. "Well, how much Emerald activity has been observed as of late?"

"Guerilla campaigns are still being fought in Vacuo. The Emeralds still have a strong presence there. In Mistral, Lionheart's holding them up as much as he can, but the terrorists have managed to entangle themselves into the criminal seedbed enough that nothing short of open war will force them out." Adam shook his head. "At the very least, Atlas hasn't been touched in years."

Blake frowned. "It sounds to me like they're holding back, or planning for something."

Adam's face darkened.

"It… kinda reminds me of the Fang, before the revolution." Blake shook her head. "Not to get caught up in old memories, but it feels like they're a cornered animal, and they aren't going down without a fight."

Adam barked out a laugh. "Blake, these aren't the death throes of a weak, dying organization." He composed himself. "But I do think you're right."

"You do?"

"They're planning something." He nodded. "They're planning something big. And this cocky group of 'kids' has to be at the center of it."

"What?" Blake raised an eyebrow. "That's awfully paranoid of you."

He raised a hand. "Blake, they're hitting Vale. They're aiming for the heart of the modern world. That isn't desperation, that's boldness."

"You know those aren't mutually exclusive." Blake shot back.

The elevator door opened and they stepped into the hallway. Adam frowned. "I just can't see that, Blake. It doesn't fit."

"Maybe it's just you." Blake said.

Adam laughed sharply. "If I assumed that every time I had a hunch, then I'd never have gotten this far in life." Blake turned to head towards her own office, and he waved. "Sometimes, you have to trust your gut and go for it, no matter the cost."

They parted ways, and Adam walked to the end of the hallway alone. A woman sat at a desk next to a closed door with his name on it. He passed her with a nod and entered his office to a blast of cold air.

He sat at his desk, opening his computer, and laying paperwork on the table in front of him. He then pulled his scroll out, opened it, and propped it up against a book. Opening the first file, he laid it out across the table.

Four teenagers in combat gear stared back up at him. An image of a black-haired boy with sunglasses in a suit lay next to a photo of a ginger girl in a bomber jacket gripping a massive hammer in both hands. In a snapshot of _From Dust Till Dawn_ from the road-view camera, red ink circled a grey blur on top of a building. And in the fourth photo, with a fedora and a trenchcoat - Adam's lip curled - the leader stared at a security camera through sunglasses, a smile across their face.

He pulled the next file out, and arranged the pictures next to the profiles. _From Dust Till Dawn's_ shattered windows and the broken pavement went next to a similar picture of another shop downtown. A weapon's shop door was broken off its hinges, its stock stolen. Another picture showed a weapons convoy hit and pillaged.

"Dust and weapons, dust and weapons." Adam muttered. He pulled opened his scroll, tapped a message from Lieutenant Amitola, and opened the images of the perimeter of the Dust facility. The gate was broken, the hinges busted by high explosives. He briefly glanced at the ginger.

Another picture, a refueling station taking up a majority of the shot. "Heavy fuel, the kind that you'd need for a generator… or heavy vehicles."

Adam ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He grabbed his mask from its place on his belt and stared it at.

Hand-carved ivory - similar to the tusks of a Boarbatusk - painted with lines of red. The eye holes stared back at him, slightly larger than the average Grimm mask many White Fang members sported.

"They say that the dragons were above all other Grimm - in intellect, in motivation. Hoarders, like the old dragons of myth." Adam smiled. "I suppose I was arrogant in picking this for my mask, but it's served me well."

He set it down on the table and glared at the leader's photograph. _Damocles_ , the file read. "The sword poised to kill the emperor at any moment."

He closed his eyes. "I preferred you when you were a goddamn metaphor." A frown pressed over his features, and he took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "You won't win. Terrorists never do and I was a fool to think they ever could, as a child."

He reached for his scroll, disregarded the ruined factory, and swiped through his photos. He was greeted with an image of grainy static, a grey bullhead barely visible in the background. The only clear section of the picture was the lower right hand corner, with a font reading _WF-159353-EC. 23:11._

Adam opened the sidebar and tapped on a paintbrush-shaped tool and got to work. He swiped to the side to an image labeled _WF-159353-21:10_. The rooftop was flat with gravel and a granite roof, and the door was sunk into the roof. He swiped back to the static-laden image and filled in the details.

After half an hour, the restored image stared back at him. A girl he'd seen once, at the Beacon Fair, stood on the roof with a bow outstretched. Grainy characters stood on the deck of the Bullhead, but he'd noticed the tiny shape before, falling from the deck with an arrow protruding from its front.

Beneath the hat, Damocles' hair was blond.

Adam deleted both images with a grunt. "Weeks to get a hold of the imaging in one of these cameras without leaving a paper trail and that's it. Stupid to leave the evidence for something so small."

He turned the scroll off and pulled out another from underneath a panel in his desk. This one was smaller and blockier, with a touch screen that barely responded to him. He entered his password twice before it accepted it, and went to his photos.

Another security camera, this one from a raid several years ago. In the picture stood Damocles, in his trench coat and blue sunglasses. The glasses were broken, one lens all but shattered and the other with the tinted plastic knocked out.

Beneath the damaged frames, blue eyes looked back at Adam.

"Blond hair, blue eyes, a longsword I swear I've seen before, and a name that suggests the impending doom of those in charge." Adam rubbed forehead. "Lack of pure martial skill made up for in tactics, aggressive striking patterns, and another ace to pull out of his sleeve. Misdirection and false maneuvers, paired with bravado, and the fact that his face isn't on any surviving civilian database in the city..."

He hit his contacts, and swiped to his favorites.

Her name was the first on the list. _Salem_ spelled in the cold standard font his scroll came with, _Headmistress_ printed neatly underneath it. His finger shook for a second, before he tightened his wrist and tapped the button.

"Gods help me," he muttered, as the scroll rang. "If she doesn't pick up."

He heard a click, before Salem's face appeared on his screen.

"Hello, Adam." She said. "I presume my agent was able to get you what you need?"

"Headmistress." He took a quick breath and said, "I think that it's him."

She paused. "Do you think? Or do you know?"

"I know." Adam swallowed. "It makes too much sense."

"Maybe less than you think it does, but no matter. You've always been paranoid." He could see the smile appear on Salem's face. "I suppose you have work to do, then."

The video cut out, leaving static on the screen. Adam blinked. He hit the end call button, and it shut off. The room was silent except for the sound of the air conditioning.

He picked up his pencil with a shaky hand and started going through the evidence again, taking notes.

* * *

 **Monkey #2: Still chugging along, I'd say.**

 **Killjoy: We're not dead till we say we're dead. At which point we won't be capable of speech.**

 **Saltykov: On your tombstone I'll write, "I'm with stupid." And technically, the Damocles legend is the sword poised to kill the king, not the emperor.**


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm sure you've heard this lecture many times before, but we'll be going through it one more time, just to make sure we're all on the same page." Professor Winchester tapped a button on his scroll and the screen on the board lit up. "Mountain Glenn."

Sapphire yawned. Weiss smacked her on the shoulder.

The professor tapped his scroll again, and it cycled to the next slide, a map of Remnant. "It all started around forty years ago, after the Faunus Civil War. The kingdoms were in a time of peace, the damages had been repaired, and populations were growing. The kingdoms needed to expand."

He highlighted Atlas. "In the north, Atlesian pioneers began to settle further into the north, settling glaciers and expanding Dust mining alongside the Schnee Dust Company.

"Meanwhile, Mistral built up." The slideshow transitioned into the capital of Mistral, with wooden buildings on top of one another along a mountainside. "It helped contribute to Mistral's rich culture and diversity, but has also allowed its underground to flourish even with modern law enforcement practices.

"Unfortunately, Vacuo took the brunt of a lot of the wars, and had few resources to expand." Professor Winchester explained. "Even today, Vacuo lags behind the progress made in Atlas and Mistral.

"Vale, however, had ambitions." Professor Winchester switched the slide again. The board displayed an aerial image of a lush valley. "Enter Mountain Glenn. The city was built in a valley nestled between several of the mountains that form Vale's outermost borders, and on the surrounding slopes. Underneath are a series of natural tunnels filled with fresh running water that made irrigation easy. The soil was fertile enough to be used for agriculture, and the mountains surrounding it served as natural defenses."

"And we all know how well that worked out," Mercury muttered, wincing as Yang then kicked him beneath the desks.

"Now, we all know the story of the siege of the city." Professor Winchester said, his eyes moving over the entire class. "We won't be going too in depth into the things we all know. Or rather, I won't. Instead, each of you is going to prepare a presentation on a facet of the siege, and send me a brief explanation of it is so that we have no repeats. The economics, foreign aid, military successes and failures, the logistics, whatever intrigues you."

Sapphire groaned.

"Forward your topic to me by the end of this week. I believe the rest of our time today can be used to start pinpointing it." Professor Winchester shut off the presentation and sat at his desk. "And considering you'll each be required to present your findings starting next week, I'd suggest not dilly-dallying."

* * *

Ruby rapped her pencil against her notebook. She stared at the blank page, the eraser leaving little marks on the paper while the tip left a series of light scratches on the surface.

"No ideas?"

Ruby glanced over at Sapphire and sighed. "No, none yet."

"Yeah, I'm in the same boat." Sapphire groaned. "I was gonna talk about the subway below the mountain, what that thing was for, but there's nothing on it!"

"Hey, cheer up. We still have a couple days to think of a subject."

"And some overachievers are already working on their presentation." Sapphire said with a growl.

"... initial push against the Grimm advance, it became obvious that Vale did not have the firepower to hold them back without taking heavy casualties." A voice drifted toward them in the lull of the library. "Then-Headmaster Ozpin, however, continued to commit more and more soldiers to the front..."

"Wow. Cardin is pretty far along."

"Probably got daddy's help with it." Sapphire scoffed.

"Youuuu really don't know how teacher parents work, do you?" Ruby asked with a sidelong glance.

"You can't tell me you and Xiao Long didn't get special treatment at Signal."

"Kinda?" Ruby scratched at her cheek. "I mean, in the sense that Dad and Uncle Qrow pushed us harder. Didn't really get any slack from them. There's a reason Yang was at the top of the class. Cardin is probably in the same boat, maybe worse because his dad is a professor at Beacon. It's probably a smart idea to be ahead as much as possible, just to be safe."

"Hmm." Sapphire crosses her arms. "He's still a prick... but sitting here talking about it ain't helping any."

"Nope." Ruby nodded. "Soooo... have you tried asking Weiss?"

"And speaking of overachievers." Sapphire groaned. "I'm not asking her. She'd just act all superior while griping that I'm not keeping up. Or drag me into another study session to 'help' me."

"Is she that bad?"

"Kinda. She's just got a stick up her ass that someone needs to knock loose."

"Ah." Ruby winced. "A stick... ooh!"

Sapphire shifted in her seat. "What is it?"

"Maybe I could do it on the weapons people used! The Huntsmen, Vale's soldiers, the reinforcements-"

"That's a lot of weapons, Ruby."

"That's okay, I know most of them already." Ruby's pencil scratched against the paper. "Alright, thanks Saph! Maybe if I start with-"

"Whoa, don't abandon me!" Sapphire groaned. "I need something too, or Weiss promised me another workshop slash lecture."

"Alright, alright." Ruby dropped her pencil. "Uh, Mountain Glenn. Talk about the mountains?"

"The mountains." Sapphire said blankly.

"Yeah!" Ruby nodded. "Talk about how they affected Grimm and Huntsman movements? Or how they affected the building of the city and relief efforts?"

"..." Sapphire raised a finger and lowered it. "No. No. You don't get to come up with an ideas like that off 'the mountains'. That's not how smart people are supposed to work."

"How are they supposed to work?" Ruby asked.

"I dunno, not like that!" Sapphire groaned. "Why ain't anybody else here with us?"

"Ummm. Mercury is getting training in with some different people. He was talking about liking the variety. Weiss said something about a call to her sister. And Yang got dragged into town by Cinder for some reason." Ruby picked up her pencil again and ripped a page out of her notebook. She jotted down a few words then passed it to her friend. "Here! Maybe this will help!"

"Ruby, why-" Sapphire stared at Ruby as the girl's pencil flew against the page. "Aaaand she's ignoring me. Great... Want something from the cafeteria?"

"Milk."

"Of course you'd hear that."

* * *

 _Isaac's Dust Shop_ was in shambles. The sign was face up on the ground, a deep tear in it obscuring the owner's name. One of the windows was smashed out into the street, and shards of broken glass lay scattered on the sidewalk.

Inside, cabinets were overturned and display cases broken. The register was on the floor. Several shotgun shells lay discarded on the ruined carpet.

The owner sat next to a White Fang van, gripping his side while a medic worked on him. Officers, White Fang and police, stood around the wreckage and directed passerbys around the scene.

Yang sagged. "Is it just me, or are these becoming a lot more common?"

Cinder shook her head. "There does seem to be a rise in destructive crime as of late. At least I can't recall hearing - or seeing - this much before we started attending Beacon."

"And it's always Dust, too!" Yang groaned. "You can't even walk to the diner without running into another scene."

One of the White Fang officers glanced their way and did a double take. She snorted and made her way towards the pair.

"Sergeant Belladonna." Cinder greeted.

"Miss Fall, it seems we keep running into each other."

"Small city, it seems?" Cinder jested.

Blake laughed. "Gods no. Though a part of me is wondering if you're just drawn to trouble."

"I should hope not. I merely asked Yang to accompany me as I picked up some accessories Beacon doesn't immediately have on hand. I'd rather not run into a crime scene every time I run errands."

"Any chance you can tell us what happened?" Yang asked.

"Same old song and dance it's been since these started." Belladonna scowled before letting out a sigh. "Isaac's a local owner, sells Dust. High quality. Robbers hit the place, and he isn't the type to surrender without a fight. So he broke out a gun, everything went nasty, and the bullet casings and slash gouges only matches up with stuff already in our evidence lockers and databases."

"So you know who did it?" Yang asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Why don't you just track them and take them down?"

"I wish we could." The sergeant glanced at Cinder before continuing. "But while they're making a lot of noise and grandstanding during the robbery - or so witnesses say - that's about all we get. Brief, similar descriptions of generic features and obvious code names. At this point it's just frustrating."

* * *

Mercury bounced on the balls of his feet across the clearing, the soft dirt of the clearing sticking to the soles of his boots.

Ruby held Crescent Rose in its rifle form down and pointing at the ground.

"Ready, deadeye?" Mercury taunted.

Ruby grinned. "You can bet your boots on it."

On the sidelines, Yang blew an airhorn.

Ruby reacted first, hopping back and unfurling Crescent Rose into its scythe form. She plunged the blade of the scythe into the ground as a makeshift prop.

Mercury darted to the right to dodge the first shot, then weaved back and to the left as Ruby resighted. A third shot grazed his shoulder as he ducked low. The fourth sprayed dirt underneath his leg as he leapt forward, aiming the sole of his boot at his opponent.

Mercury kicked his leg out at Ruby, firing at center mass. She sidestepped, sighted, and fired. The bullet smashed into Mercury's elbow and he spun with the hit.

Ruby worked the breech on Crescent Rose and fired another three shots in quick succession. Mercury dodged to the right, and the moment his feet were off the ground she moved.

She ripped her scythe from the ground and lunged towards him. Eyes wide, he threw up a loose guard and ducked low. The blade cut just above his head as Ruby flew by him.

He twisted and threw a kick above him as Ruby passed, catching her along the side as she traveled. She rolled with the kick, her boots scrabbling at the ground and sliding. She directed her skid to the side as he fired off another shot, and buckshot tore through the air next to her.

Mercury went on the offensive. He lunged forward and led with a quick kick that sprayed metal through the air at her. Ruby twisted around the shot and he was on her.

Ruby intercepted a kick on Crescent Rose's shaft and pushed off hard. Mercury moved with the spin and swept around the weapon with his other foot.

Ruby ducked under the hit and swung Crescent Rose around his body. He jumped straight up and the curved blade cleaved through the air underneath him. Ruby squeezed the trigger and the recoil pulled her away from Mercury. She surged forward, dodging to the side of Mercury's retaliation.

As she ran she flipped a switch near Crescent Rose's trigger. The blade pulled itself parallel to the shaft with an outward curve like an inverted glaive.

Mercury noticed the shift and crouched low. Ruby crouched and sprang at him, Crescent Rose held before her like a spear. Mercury twisted his hips hard and her momentum carried her past him. He thrusted his foot at her back, but she was already gone.

The moment he set it back down she struck again, aiming for his legs. He hopped to the side, the blade missed him by inches as he lifted his leg high and swung it down in an axe kick. Ruby darted back and shot Mercury in the hip.

He jerked back and Ruby darted past him with Crescent Rose held behind her, slashing at his ribs. He flinched away, pivoting, and took another bullet to the face. He lashed out, but she'd already dodged out of the way.

She flickered behind him and set her stance. She swung Crescent Rose behind her and squeezed the trigger. With the shot of her gun she launched herself forward and swung.

Only to be caught in the chest by Mercury's plated foot. She launched back and hit the ground rolling, Crescent Rose flying from her hands. She rolled to a stop at Yang's feet, near the edge of the clearing, and groaned.

Yang tapped Ruby with her shoe. The girl curled up into a ball. Yang raised an eyebrow and stifled a laugh.

"Yo Mercury, I think you broke her!" She called.

"She did most of the work!" Mercury shook his head and walked over. "Hey, kid, you alright?"

"... I'm fine." Ruby coughed. She sat up and rubbed her ribs. "That hurt."

"You should've stuck to the thrusts." Mercury said. "The moment you held your scythe behind you, you were wide open."

"Yeah, but it looks so cool!"

"Maybe," Yang reached down to tousle her hair. "But it doesn't look cool when you clothesline yourself."

"Yang, stop!" Ruby smacked her sister's hand away. She winced at the motion. "Ow. Think you broke through on that last hit."

"Really?" Mercury blinked. He reached his hand out towards Ruby. "Shit, didn't mean to hit you that hard."

She took it with a strained smile and Mercury hauled her to her feet.. "Not the first time it's happened."

She glanced at Yang. Her sister rolled her eyes. "I've only knocked the wind out of you, what...three times?"

"Five!" Ruby exclaimed. "You suck at pulling punches!"

Yang shrugged. "Dad always said not to pull punches against anyone!"

"He didn't mean me!" Ruby huffed.

Mercury laughed. "Is that right, Xiao Long?"

"Hey, you know me." Yang flashed him a grin. "Only thing I half-ass is homework."

"And your jokes."

Yang slid Ember Celica over her forearms and gave Mercury a wolfish smile. "Do you want to die today?"

"Like you could kill me." He retorted. "I can take you with an arm tied behind my back."

"We'll see what you have to say when your mouth is filled with dirt." Yang quipped, raising her arms.

Mercury mirrored her stance with a grin.

Ruby groaned. "This is gonna take _forever_."

"Sorry, sis." Yang grinned. "We won't kill the clearing this time."

Ruby snorted.

Yang launched herself at Mercury with an explosion of dirt. He backpedaled and bobbed between punches with a grin.

"Well, this is gonna be a while." Ruby sat down on a rock and pulled out her scroll from her bag. Mercury shouted something she didn't quite catch before she heard their guns firing off.

"Three missed messages," She said, putting her headphones on to muffle the sounds of battle only feet away from where she sat. She swayed in her seat and swiped through the scroll's home page while Mercury and Yang "Cinder, studying… Weiss, studying… ooh, Nora?"

* * *

"So I stood there, on the edge of civilization, ready to stop all attacks into the world we cherish." Nora leaned over the table and looked Ruby in the eye. "There I stood, alone, with naught but a pistol and a toothpick to my name as the hordes of darkness and evil prepared evil doom."

"Fifteen Beowolves, and there was a wall."

"The edge of human civilization." Nora insisted. "I had few reinforcements. I knew Ren was on his way, but all he could bring was an agent of revival and a toothpick."

Ren shook his head with a smile. "Nora, I thought I had my knife."

"Yes, the toothpick." She ignored a protest and continued. "And then they rushed me! Across the fields they charged, their horns held low to the ground! Beowolves riding boarbatusks!"

Jaune cocked his head to the side. "I thought they were Ursae riding Griffins?"

"And I thought she said Ursa Major." Pyrrha laughed.

Nora groaned. "You guys weren't even there!"

"Nora, it's an arcade game, and I brought you a soda and some coins to continue after they overwhelmed you." Ren chuckled. "You're making it too easy for us when you get this strung out over the little things."

Nora sat back down. "But the little things are what make the story!"

"I liked the story, Nora." Ruby said with a smile. "How did you two beat off the Grimm?"

Nora grinned. "I was on the ropes for a while. My reinforcements ran late, and my ammo ran dry. But suddenly, the position next to me was filled by my trusty sidekick, and we pushed them back! The king rewarded us handsomely for our service."

"Yes, twenty tickets. Enough for a pencil." Ren deadpanned.

Nora put her hands up. "The country was in crisis! He offered what he could, and only what he could."

"It seems the king was unsatisfied with your work." Sapphire snarked. "Perhaps the noble life isn't for you." She took a sip of coffee.

"You wound me, Madam Sustrai." Nora clutched a hand over her chest. "To my core."

Sapphire shook her head. "How could I ever live with myself?"

"I'm not sure you can die from heartbreak, Nora." Ren smiled.

Nora threw her hands up and looked at Yang. "You see what I have to deal with?"

Yang blinked. "Oh, sorry? I wasn't paying attention."

"You alright, Yang?" Pyrrha asked. "You seem a little out of it."

She groaned. "Mercury was up till… what, one in the morning playing video games." She spared a glare towards the counter, where he was chatting with a waitress. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what a volume button is… or a headset."

Ren winced.

"Yeah." She grabbed her coffee mug and took a long sip. "Night before that was studying for Winchester's review tests, and the night before that I lost track of time in the training room. Nobody ever told me Beacon never sleeps."

"I've been getting plenty of sleep." Ruby confessed. "Cinder makes me get to bed around ten every day."

"Is she treating you like a kid?"

"Nah," Ruby sniffed. "She just doesn't want me waking her up when I come back to the dorm, so she's making sure I'm asleep before she is."

Sapphire nodded. "Weiss is on the same shit Cinder's on. Can't even have soda after eight, or she thinks I'm pulling an all nighter."

Ren nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

"It's annoying." Sapphire groaned. "She's so uptight!"

Pyrrha smiled. "Maybe she just wants to make sure you're not doing anything foolish. She comes off as the tough love type."

"Can't get much tougher than her." Sapphire snorted. "Get in the arena, we kick ass. Get out of the arena, she kicks my ass."

"Have you ever woken her up in the middle of the night?" Ruby asked.

Sapphire shrugged. "Once, maybe. I'm pretty sure she wasn't actually asleep anyways."

"Yeah, Pyrrha can get like that sometimes." Jaune bumped his shoulder into her. "She's worse than my mom."

"Jaune, nobody is worse than your mother." Pyrrha said. "And it's not my fault the three of you would put your hands into wood chippers if I wasn't there to stop you."

Ren frowned. "Me?"

"Nora's hand would get stuck, then Jaune's, then yours would get stuck trying to pull their hands out instead of just turning off the woodchipper." Pyrrha smiled. "You're not good enough at bailing people out to be a mom. "

Ren raised a finger, then lowered it. He took a sip of his tea. "Point."

Ruby looked down at her empty mug.

"Oh, Ruby, you need another drink?" Jaune asked. "I could hunt down the waitress if you want."

"Is that okay?" Ruby asked.

Jaune grinned. "Course it is! Anyone else need any last minute orders?"

"Another fifteen shots of espresso." Yang said.

"... Okay then, more coffee." He shook his head and climbed out of the booth. "Where is - ah!" He walked past Sapphire's seat.

Mercury walked back and sat next to Yang.

"You get any digits, ladykiller?" She teased.

"Meh." Mercury shrugged. "She wasn't interested, I didn't push too hard. Besides, I'm pretty sure Professor Rainart's about to kill me next week, so it's not like I'll be doing much dating."

"What'd you do this time?" Sapphire asked.

"You know that long-term project we've been working on for Tactics? I set up a theoretical armed forces made up of small, fast teams. Next week they're getting battle-tested on the hologram city, and, uh." He cringed. "One of the things is how they deal with being surrounded."

"Oof."

He sighed and leaned back. "Yeah, I'm gonna be making a loooot of last minute changes."

"I could give you a hand, if you want. So long as you learn how to mute the TV or buy some headphones."

"I'll do that as long as you don't bring the same shit up for a week straight again." Mercury grumbled.

"Is this how you respond to people offering to help you?" Yang sipped her coffee. "That's just terrible. Why would you do that?"

Ren raised an eyebrow.

"No, they don't know how to stop." Sapphire shrugged. "You learn to live with it."

"Who thought it would be a good idea to pair them together again?" Ruby asked.

Sapphire shrugged.

The waitress came back, refilled Yang's coffee, and placed another mug of hot chocolate in front of Ruby.

Jaune sat back down at the end of the booth. "Sorry 'bout that, needed to make a call."

"That group project?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, it hit a dead end." Jaune sighed. "Gonna have to start from scratch."

Pyrrha smiled. "You'll get there eventually."

"So we hope."

"Is anybody here actually on top of their schoolwork?" Ren asked. "Because this conversation has really given me the impression that nobody is on top of their schoolwork."

"Weiss is." Sapphire deadpanned.

Ruby shrugged. "So is Cinder, and she's making sure I am. It's actually why they're not here."

"I'm getting plenty of work done, with Mercury keeping me up all night."

Mercury punched Yang in the shoulder, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"If you two are just gonna go at it again," Jaune cut in, "Then I'm gonna just pay the bill before we have to buy a table."

"We're not that bad!"

"Tell that to grass at the park." Jaune deadpanned. "Or the folding table you broke at that supermarket."

Nora laughed. "Folding tables really aren't that strong, you know? A little pressure and-"

"Excuse me, miss?" Jaune raised a hand. "Our check, please?"

"Now, that's just rude. To the waitress and to Nora." Yang shook her head.

"She'll live. Thanks, miss." Jaune glanced at the bio. "Lunch's on me tonight."

He reached a hand into his pocket, then froze. He patted his other pocket before reaching underneath him to the seat of his jeans.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

He groaned. "Wallet's gone. Shit, uh. May have dropped it outside when I grabbed my phone to talk to my partner." He stood up and half-jogged towards the door. "I swear…."

Ruby blinked.

"Oh this will be fun to tease him about, assuming he does find it." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Sapphire cocked her head to the side. "I take it this don't happen often?"

"No," Ren said. "He's usually the one triple checking everything to make sure we've got it all."

"And usually giving me grief about leaving things to last minute." Nora said, pouting.

"We'll try not to tease him too much. I mean, we all have our off days. Can't really be held accountable for mistakes, right?" Sapphire shrugged.

Mercury's eyes widened. "Gods _dammit,_ Saph."

"What?" Yang asked.

Sapphire sighed. "You're ruining the joke!"

"Sapphire, theft isn't a joke!"

"Look, it was harmless." Sapphire retorted. "What's a little larceny between friends?"

"Larceny. Just larceny." Mercury massaged his forehead and stood up. "I'll get him."

Mercury followed Jaune's path out of the building with heavy footsteps. Ruby blinked.

"Wait, wait wait wait." Nora stood in her seat and leaned over the table. "You pickpocketed Jaune?"

"Yep."

" _How?"_

Sapphire grinned. "Trade secret."

"He walked by you on the way to get Ruby more hot chocolate, right?" Ren asked. "You probably nabbed it then, and he was too preoccupied to notice. Impressive."

"While I like the compliment, do you guys have to kill all my fun with the play-by-play?" Sapphire asked. "Are you all just secret Mercurys?"

Ruby raised her hand. "Isn't Jaune going to be upset?"

"Ruby, put down your hand, this isn't Winchester's class." Sapphire's grin softened. "He'll be fine, he's a big boy. Jaune can take a joke, right Pyr?"

"That nickname is terrible, I don't burn corpses." Pyrrha said with a smile. "And Jaune will be fine. He can use a little slap to the ego every once in a while."

"See? It's all fiiiiine!" Sapphire tousled Ruby's hair.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Still kinda impressive that you were able to do it, though."

"Sensing a 'but' there."

"Something something, stealing is bad, something something, bad influence." Yang shrugged. "You do you, Saph, just don't get us in trouble or do something actually bad."

"I'm not dumb, Xiao Long." Sapphire reached into her pocket and passed the wallet across the table to Pyrrha. "Here's his wallet. Was gonna return it before we headed out anyway. Didn't even take anything."

"Well that's good to know, though I hope you realize this means I'm not covering you." Jaune said as he walked back to the table with Mercury behind him, taking his wallet from Pyrrha. "And I'm sorry to say we've gotta head out."

"Ohhh. Something come up?" Nora asked.

Jaune nodded as he left some lien on the table. "Sun gave me a quick call while I was looking for my 'lost' wallet and wants us all there to talk about whether to go with some small trees or flowers this go around."

"Seems an odd choice." Mercury said, taking his seat.

Ren nodded. "Sun is rather odd himself. Very much the outdoor type, so he tries to bring that inside. Unfortunately, the last time he made the decision himself, the trees ended in quite the bad position. I'd suggest we hurry, then. Have a pleasant evening, everyone."

Pyrrha and Nora nodded, Nora sucking the last of her drink up, before the quartet headed out with a wave.

"Sooooo." Sapphire said, eyeing the lien Jaune had left. "Anybody willing to cover-"

"Oh no. You dug this grave. Pay up."

Sapphire glared at the smirking Mercury. "Rude."


End file.
